LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






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Prices: paper cover, 20 cents; cloth cover, 30 cents. 

MEALS 

FOR THE MILLION 

The People's Cook-Book. 
/ 

By JULIET CORSON, 

Superintettdeni of the New York School of Cookery, 

AUTHOR OF ''the COOKING SCHOOL TEXT-BOOK AND HOUSEKEEPERS* 

GUIDE," "the COOKING MANUAL," " OUS HOUSEHOLD COUNCIL," 

"TWENTY-FIVE CENT DINNERS," "DIET FOR INVALIDS 

AND CHILDREN." ETC. 



THIRD EDITIO. 



New York. 
N. Y. SCHOOL OF COOKERY 
1516 BROADWAY, 
1882. 




^u.. 



COPYKIGHT, 1870, 

3y JULIET CORSOH. 
A a rights reserved. 



PREFACE 



A marked advance in the prices of provisions of 
all kinds, and a continued demand for novelty and 
variety in economical cookery, have led to the pub- 
lication of this pamphlet. 

The author has refrained from the reproduction 
of recipes included in her former works, with the 
exception of those for bread, boiled and baked po- 
tatoes, roasted and baked meats, and a few dishes 
for invalids, which she believes cannot too often be 
repeated. The difficult dishes of so-called "fancy 
cookery" have been avoided, as has been the use 
of any but the most ordinary materials. 

The price of the book is made low enough to 
place it within the reach of every one interested in 
the extension of cheap and wholesome cookery, and 
the author ventures to hope for it a fair measure of 
popular approbation. 

New York School of Cookery. 
January, 1882. 



Meals for the Million. 



CHAPTER I. 

SOUPS, 



Cream of Cod (2 qts.). — Remove the skin and 
bones from cold boiled codfish, and rub it through 
a very fine colander or a wire sieve with a potato 
masher ; one cupful will be sufficient for two quarts 
of soup. Put two tablespoonfuls each of flour and 
butter in a saucepan, set it over the fire, and stir 
with a wooden spatula * until the flour and butter 
are smoothly blended; gradually add one quart 
each of boiling water and milk, stirring all the 
time until the mixture is free from lumps and 
reaches the boiling point ; then stir in the fish, 
season the soup palatably with salt, pepper, and 
grated nutmeg, using about two teaspoonfuls of 
salt and quarter of a saltspoonful each of white 
pepperf and grated nutmeg. Let the soup boil 
gently for a couple of minutes and then serve it. 
If it stands before serving long enough to grow 

*A small pudding-stick or paddle made of hard wood, 
preferable to a metal or wooden spoon for kitchen use. 

t Generally kept by grocers at the same price as black 
pepper, and much better to use in white soups and sauces. 



10 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

thicker than rich cream use a little hot milk io 
thin it. Any cold fish may be used in the same 
way. 

Cream Clam Soup (2 qts.)— Wash the shells of 
twenty-five large or fifty small clams and put them 
in a saucepan over the fire until the shells open ; 
take them from the fire, remove them from the 
shells, saving all the liquor they yield, cut the soft 
parts away from the hard, and keep them hot in 
sufficient hot water to cover them ; chop the hard 
parts and return them to the fire \x\ hot water 
enough to cover them, boiling them slowly until 
quite tender. Then add to them the soft parts 
and all the liquor, together with enough milk to 
make two quarts of soup ; season it palatably with 
salt and pepper, smoothly mix with it sufficient 
cracker dust (/>., crackers pulverized and sifted to a 
fine powder-) to make the soup as thick as cream ; 
about three tablespoonfuls will be enough for each 
quart. Serve hot. 

Oyster Sonp. — Oyster soup may be similarly made 
with strained oyster juice, milk, cracker dust, and 
seasonings. The oysters should be carefully ex- 
amined to make sure that no shell adheres to 
them, and only allowed to heat for a minute in the 
soup after it is ready to serve. 

Rich Clam Soup (2 qts.).— Use one pint of soft 
clams after they are removed from the shell (they 
are brought to market in " bunches" or " strings," 
each bunch being about a pint) ; put them into one 
quart of cold water and wash them to remove any 
particles of shell; then strain this water and put 
it over the fire to heat with the clams in it, and 



SOUPS. II 

when it approaches the boiling point put it at the 
back of the fire and let it boil slowly for fifteen 
minutes; meantime mix over the fire two table- 
spoonfuls each of butter and flour and a quart of 
hot milk, as directed for Cream of Cod; then quickly 
strain into this mixture the broth from the clams, 
season it, and set it back from the fire while the 
soft parts of the clams are cut away from the hard ; 
add them to the soup ; beat the yolks of two raw 
eggs with half a cup of the hot soup, stir them into 
the rest of it, and serve it at once. 

Bean Soup (4 qts.). — Pick over one pint of dried 
beans and wash them in cold water ; peel and slice 
an onion and fry it brown in bottom of a sauce- 
pan with a tablespoonful of drippings ; for this 
purpose ham or bacon fat is preferable. When the 
onion is brown put the beans in with it, pour on 
three quarts of cold water, and let these ingredi- 
ents boil slowly ; every fifteen minutes add half a 
cup of cold water until a quart has been used. 
Meantime mix one tablespoonful each of flour and 
butter to a smooth soft paste, and fry some half- 
inch bits of stale bread light brown in the frying 
kettle, or in a frying-pan with a little butter. As 
soon as the beans are soft, in about an hour, pour 
them into a sieve set over a large bowl, and rub 
them through with a potato-masher ; put them again 
into the saucepan with their broth, stir in the butter 
and flour, let the soup boil once, and serve it, with 
the fried bread in it. 

Puree of Poultry (2 qts.). — Free from skin and 
bone a cupful of any kind of cold poultry, chop it 
fine, and rub it through a sieve with a potato- 



12 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

masher; put into a saucepan over the fire two 
tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour and stir 
them until they are light brown; then add two 
quarts of boiling water, half a cupful at once, stir- 
ring all the time, and keeping the mixture smooth ; 
season highly w^ith salt and pepper, stir in \\\q puree 
of poultry, let the soup boil once, and serve it. It 
may be flavored with a tablespoonful of any good 
table sauce. 

Brown Soup (2 qts.). — Make this soup when there 
is on hand broth, or the pot liquor of boiled beef; 
free the broth from fat, and if it is not clear clarify 
it as follows : for each quart mix the white and 
shell of one egg and one tablespoonful of cold wa- 
ter in a saucepan, pour the cold broth upon them 
and set the saucepan over the fire, where its con- 
tents will gradually approach the boiling point, 
stirring every two minutes to loosen the egg from 
the bottom of the saucepan ; as the egg cooks it 
will rise in the form of a scum ; when it collects 
upon the surface, and the broth looks clear and 
bright under it, pour it through a folded towel laid 
in a colander Over a large bowl ; do not squeeze 
the towel, but let the broth run slowly through it ; 
it will then be ready to use. 

Peel and cut in half-inch dice one medium size 
carrot, one white turnip, one small leek, one small 
onion, and one head of celery ; slowly fry them 
brown in a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, 
a teaspoonful of sugar, and a saltspoonful of salt. 
When they are brown pour the clarified broth upon 
them and slowly boil them tender, removing all 
scum as fast as it rises. Meantime boil one cupful 



SOUPS. 13 

of green peas or string beans, if either are in season, 
in salted boiling water until tender, and then drain 
them and put them in cold water until they are 
wanted. When the other vegetables are tender 
drain the peas or beans from the cold water and 
add them to the soup. Mix one tablespoonful of 
arrowroot with half a cup of cold water, stir it into 
the soup, let it boil once, add one tablespoonful of 
vinegar, and serve. 

Cock-a-leeky (4 qts.). — Remove all feathers from 
an old fowl, singe it, wipe it clean with a wet 
towel, draw and truss it, and put it into a large 
saucepan with one onion peeled and sliced, quarter 
of a pound of lean bacon sliced, one tablespoonful 
of sugar and four of butter ; set the saucepan over 
the fire and turn the fowl occasionally until it is 
brown all over; then add to it four quarts of boiling 
water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one saltspoonful of 
pepper, and six whole cloves. • Boil gently for two 
hours, or until the fowl is tender. Then strain the 
broth and return it to the saucepan ; put into it two 
dozen prunes, and one bunch of leeks washed and 
chopped fine ; the chicken is usually cut in inch 
bits and added, but it may be put in whole to cook 
with the leeks and prunes for thirty minutes, and 
then taken from the soup to serve as the meat dish 
for the dinner. At the end of the half hour see 
that the seasoning is palatable, and serve the soup. 
Rice can be substituted for the prunes, and veal for 
the chicken. 

Potato Soup (4 qts.). — Put into a saucepan two 
ounces of bacon chopped, six onions peeled and 
chopped, one saltspoonful of pepper, one teaspoon- 



1 4 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

ful of salt and four quarts of hot water, and boil 
for fifteen minutes; meantime peel and slice one 
quart of potatoes, add them to the first mentioned 
ingredients, and boil for three quarters of an hour 
longer, or until the potatoes are boiled to a pulp ; 
season palatably, and serve hot. 

Pumpkin Soup (2 qts.), — Peel and slice enough 
pumpkin to fill a pint bowl, put it into a saucepan 
with one head of celery chopped fine, one table- 
spoonful of drippings or butler, a teaspoonful of 
salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and two 
quarts of boiling water; boil until the vegetables 
can be rubbed through a sieve with a potato- 
masher; then return the vegetables and the broth 
in which they were cooked to the saucepan, set it 
over the fire, stir into it the soft paste of butter and 
flour described in the recipe for Bean Soup^ boil it 
once, and serve it with fried dice of bread prepared 
as for the Bean Soup. 

Winter squash makes a very good soup if treated 
in the same way. 

Brown Onion Soup (4 qts.). — Peel and slice six 
large onions, fry them brown in a saucepan with 
two tablespoonfuls of drippings or butter, pour over 
them four quarts of boiling water, season with two 
teasponfuls of salt and half a saltspoonful of pepper, 
stir in two cupfuls of grated bread free from crust, 
and boil slowly two hours, stirring occasionally. 
Season palatably, and serve hot. 

Herb Soup (4 qts.). — Wash and chop small one 
cupful each of leeks or chives, parsley, lettuce, 
green cabbage, beet tops or boiled beets, spinach, 
and sorrel if obtainable ; put them over the fire in 



SOUFS. 15 

two tablespoonfuls of butter or salad oil, and fry 
for five minutes; then add two cupfuls of grated 
bread free from crusts, season with salt and pepper, 
pour in four quarts of boiling water, simmer two 
hours, add one tablespoonful of vinegar, and serve. 



CHAPTER II. 

FISH AND SHELLFISH. 

Fricassee of Codfish (2 lbs.). — Wash and cut two 
pounds of fresh codfish in two inch squares, remov- 
ing skin and bones ; put it over the fire in sufficient 
cold water to cover it an inch, with one teaspoonful 
of salt, and let it slowly approach the boiling point ; 
then take it from the water with a skimmer, lay it 
on a warm dish, cover it with a towel wet in warm 
water, and place it where it will keep warm with- 
out drying. Strain the water in which the fish was 
boiled and use one pint of it, together with one 
tablespoonful each of butter and flour, to make a 
white sauce, first melting together the butter and 
flour and then gradually stirring in the water; sea- 
son the sauce palatably with salt and pepper, put 
the fish into it and heat it until the flakes begin to 
separate ; then remove the saucepan from the fire, 
stir in the beaten yolk of one egg and a tablespoon- 
ful of vinegar ; if parsley is obtainable add one 
tablespoonful chopped fine ; serve at once. Toast, 
or two inch slices of fried bread may accompany 
the dish. Three tablespoonfuls of salad oil may be 
added to the sauce with the vinegar, if desired. 

Halibut and bass are excellent v/hen cooked in 
this way. 

Eagoiit of Eels and Onions {2 lbs.). — Wash and 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 1 7 

parboil two pounds of eels cut in two inch lengths, 
for fifteen minutes ; dry them on a towel, put them 
into two tablespoonfuls of hot salad oil or butter, 
with one cupful of sliced onions, and brown them 
over a hot fire ; stir in one tablespoonful of flour 
and let it brown ; add one pint of boiling water, 
season the ragofit palatably with salt and pepper, 
and simmer it slowly for twenty minutes, when it 
will be ready to serve. 

Broiled Halibut with Caper Butter. — Wash a slice 
of halibut, dry it on a towel, dust it with pepper 
and salt, place it in a double fish gridiron, which 
has been buttered to prevent the fish sticking to it, 
and broil it light brown on both sides over a mod- 
erate fire. , 

Caper Butter. — Meantime chop a tablespoonful 
of capers and mix them with a tablespoonful of 
cold butter, half a saltspoonful of salt and quarter 
of a saltspoonful of pepper; use this mixture on 
the fish when it is cooked. Chopped pickles of 
any kind may be used instead of the capers. Either 
caper or pickle butter is excellent with any broiled 
or fried fish. Any fresh fish may be used instead 
of halibut. 

Fried Haddock with Pickle Sauce. — Wash and 
split a small haddock down the back ; cut first one 
side and then the other away from the backbone, 
and divide the fish into suitable pieces for frying; 
dust the pieces with salt and pepper, roll them in 
Indian meal, and fry them light brown in sufficient 
smoking hot fat to cover them ; take them from the 
fat with a skimmer and lay them on brown paper 
for a minute to free them from grease. Meantime 



1 8 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

chop one teaspoonful of onion and one tablespoon- 
ful of pickle, put them over the fire for one minute 
in a tablespoonful of hot butter, add a cupful of 
vinegar, and as soon as the sauce is hot pour it over 
the fried fish, which must be placed on a hot dish. 
The fish may be served without any sauce, but a 
little acid is a great improvement to any fried fish. 
A lemon sliced or quartered may be used when 
that fruit is cheap. Any fresh fish may be fried in 
this way. 

Fish. Roe and Potatoes. — Wash any kind of fish 
roe in salted cold water, dry it on a towel, put it 
into a frying-pan containing sufficient hot fat to pre- 
vent burning, cover the pan to prevent the spatter- 
ing of the fat, and brown the roe, first on one side 
and then on the other ; when it is done lay it on 
brown paper to free it from fat, and then on a hot 
dish. Meantime peel half a dozen potatoes, cut 
them in small balls with a vegetable scoop, or in 
pieces an inch square ; throw them into salted boil- 
ing water, and boil them until a trussing needle or 
sharp fork will easily pierce them, but do not let 
them boil soft ; as soon as they are tender drain 
them and lay them between the folds of a towel 
until the fish roe is brown. Then put the potatoes 
into the hot fat where the roe was fried, set the 
pan over the fire and shake the potatoes about in it 
until they are brown. Serve them under the fish 
roe after dusting them over with pepper and salt. 

Salt Cod, Lyonnaise Style. — Lay a pound of salt 
codfish in a frying-pan, cover it with cold water, 
and set it over a moderate fire ; when the water is 
hot replace it with fresh cold water, and again heat 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 1 9 

the fish in it. Repeat this process until the fish is 
freshened palatably, taking care if there is any skin 
on it that it shall be uppermost ; if the skin of salt 
fish is on the bottom of the pan all the salt will be 
retained by it. Meantime peel and slice a pint of 
onions, and when the water on the fish is changed 
for the last time put the onions into another frying- 
pan, containing two tablespoonfuls of hot fat, and 
fry them gently ; wheathe fish is heated remove it 
from the water with, -a skimmer, take oft* the skin 
and any bones which can easily be reached, and 
put it into the pan with the onions; brown it slightly 
on both sides, dust it with pepper, and serve it with 
the onions over it. In handling the fish avoid 
breaking it- 
Salt Codfish, Spanish Style. — Parboil and freshen 
the fish as directed in the preceding recipe, or 
soak it in water over night, putting the water warm 
on the fish. Dry it on a towel without breaking it, 
dip it in melted butter or.olive oil, dust it with salt 
and pepper, and broil it in. a fish gridiron. When 
it is brown on both sides rub it over with butter or 
oil, lay it on a hot dish, squeeze over it the' juice 
of a lemon, if lemons are plentiful, or pour over it 
a tablespoonful of vinegar, and serve it hot. A 
little parsley is a great addition to the dish. 

Salt Codfish with Dutch Sauce. — Freshen the fish 
as already directed, and keep it hot while a Dutch 
Sauce is made as follows : 

Dutch Sauce. — Mix together in a saucepan over 
the fire one tablespoonful each of butter and flour 
until they bubble, then gradually add a pint of boil- 
ing water, stirring the sauce until it is smooth ; sea- 



20 THE PEOPLES COOK- BOOK. 

son it with salt and pepper, put the fish into it and 
let it heat; then take the vessel containing it from 
the fire, stir in the yolks of two raw eggs, three 
tablespoonfuls of salad oil, a few drops at a time^ 
and one of vinegar or lemon juice ; serve at once. 

Herrings stewed with Tomatoes. — Strip the skin 
from a dozen herrings, pull the flesh from the bones, 
and put the filets thus made over the fire with a 
pint of tomatoes peeled and sliced ; add half a salt- 
spoonful of pepper, and stew gently for half an 
hour; then serve on toast. 

Smoked Halibut and Tomatoes. — Freshen to 
taste a piece of smoked halibut as directed in the 
recipe of Salt Codfish, Lyonnaise style, and lay it 
without breaking on a buttered earthen baking 
dish ; on the top put a tablespoonful of finely chop- 
ped onion, dust it with pepper, and pour over it a 
pint of peeled and sliced tomatoes ; bake it half an 
hour in a moderate oven, and serve it hot in the dish 
in which it was cooked. Fresh halibut is excellent 
cooked in the same way. 

Broiled Salt Mackerel. — Freshen a salt mackerel 
by soaking it over night in water, taking care that 
the skin lies uppermost. In the morning dry it 
without breaking, cut off the tip of the head and 
the tail, place it between the bars of a buttered 
fish gridiron, and broil it to a light brown ; lay it 
on a hot dish, and dress it with a little butter, pep- 
per, and lemon juice, vinegar, of chopped pickle. 

Devilled Haddock. — Choose a thick smoked had- 
dock, trim off the head and tail, score the thick 
parts at about inch distances with a sharp knife, rub 
into the cuts salt, pepper, dry mustard, and a little 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 21 

cayenne pepper, thus seasoning the fish highly; 
broil it five minutes on each side, in a buttered fish 
gridiron, and serve it very hot on a hot dish, with 
a little lemon juice or vinegar. 

Herrings and bloaters can be dressed in the same 
way. 

Roast Oysters. — To make a real roast of oysters 
is very troublesome. The oysters must be laid 
upon hot coals, after the shells are washed, and 
allowed to remain until they open, when they are 
extracted with a measure of success which depends 
upon the deftness of the manipulator, and served 
with melted butter, pepper, and salt. An easier way 
is to arrange them in a large pan, set it over a very hot 
fire, and turn another pan over it until the oysters 
open ; there is less exposure to intense heat in follow- 
ing this method rather than the first. The third and 
easiest way is to arrange the deep shells of oysters 
in a pan and set them in a very hot oven until they 
are hot enough to instantly melt a bit of butter; 
this is then put into each one together with an 
oyster and a dust of pepper, and the pan is replaced 
in the hot oven until the edges of the oysters curl ; 
the shells containing them are then quickly trans- 
ferred to a hot dish, and they are served at once. 
Oysters seldom need to be salted. Oysters are best 
when cooked quickly. 

Panned Oysters. — These are almost as nice as 
roast oysters, and are far easier to prepare. The 
oysters must be freed from bits of shell, and their 
liquor strained and saved to make oyster toast. 
Put one quart of oysters into a shallow frying-pan 
containing enough hot butter to cover the bottom 



22 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOIC. 

of the pan, add the oyster-juice, a dust of pepper, 
and shake the pan until the edges of the oysters be- 
gin to curl ; then pour them on buttered toast and 
serve them at once. All cooked oysters deteriorate 
by being allowed to stand after they are done ; they 
should be eaten immediately. 

Oyster Toast. — Toast half a dozen slices of bread, 
and pour over them a sauce made by mixing over 
the fire a tablespoonful each of butter and flour 
until they bubble, and then gradually stirring in the 
oyster liquor, heated, adding if necessary a little 
boiling water, to make a sauce of the consistency of 
cream ; the sauce should be allowed to boil for a 
couple of minutes, seasoned with salt and pepper, 
and poured on the toast. Milk may be used instead 
of water if there is not sufficient oyster liquor to 
make the sauce. 

Oyster Fritters (i qt.). — The oysters should be 
examined for bits of shell, and their liquor strained. 
Then make a batter by mixing two cups of flour, 
the yolk of one raw egg, a tablespoonful of salad 
oil, a dust of cayenne pepper and sufficient oyster 
liquor to make a batter just thick enough to sustain 
the drops from the spoon ; plenty of fat should now 
be heated until smoking; the white of the egg 
should be beaten stiff and gently stirred into the 
batter when the fat is hot, together with the oysters, 
whole or chopped, and it should be put into the 
hot fat by the large spoonful and fried brown ; the 
fritters when done should be laid on brown paper 
for a moment to free them from grease, and then 
served hot. 

Fried Oysters.— The fried oysters of Parkinson, 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 23 

the celebrated Philadelphia caterer, were prepared 
by dusting them with flour and pepper, dropping 
them into an equal mixture of lard and salad oil 
made smoking hot, and serving them the instant 
their edges began to curl. Some cooks roll them 
in cracker dust or Indian meal and then fry them. 
A substantial dish may be made of fried oysters by 
having ready some mashed potatoes nicely seasoned 
aind placed around the edge of a hot dish in such a 
way as to form a wall, and serving the oysters in 
this dish. 

Broiled Oysters. — Make as many nice slices of 
buttered toast as there are persons to serve ; allow 
half a dozen oysters for each one ; dip the oysters in 
melted butter, lay them between the bars of a fine 
wire gridiron, and broil them over a hot fire until 
their edges curl ; dust them with pepper, and serve 
them on the toast. 

Fried Scallops. — These delicate shellfish should 
be rolled in Indian meal or flour seasoned with pep- 
per and salt, and fried brown in plenty of smoking 
hot fat. Sometimes a few thin slices of fried salt 
pork are served with them. 

Scallops and Eggs. — Boil one pint of scallops 
gently for five minutes, drain them, tear them apart 
with a fork, fry them five minutes in hot butter 
enough to prevent burning, with a palatable season- 
ing of pepper and salt ; then add to them six eggs, 
and stir like scrambled eggs for three minutes ; 
serve on toast. 

Scallops and Onions. — Peel, slice, and fry for 
three minutes half a dozen onions in two table- 
spoonfuls of hot butter ; add one pint of scallops to 



24 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

the onions, with enough more butter to prevent 
burning, season them with salt and pepper, fry them 
ten minutes longer, and serve them hot ; buttered 
toast is a great addition to this dish. 

Clam Fritters. — Use soft clams ; wash them in cold 
water and strain the water ; put it into a saucepan 
with the hard part of the clams chopped fine and 
boil them slowly for an hour ; then drain them and 
use the broth to make the same kind of batter as 
that given in the recipe for Oyster F?'itfers^ adding 
the chopped clams instead of oysters, and fry in the 
same way. 

Stewed Clams. — Use the soft parts of the clams ; 
make a white sauce by mixing a tablespoonful each 
of butter and flour over the fire, adding gradually 
to it a pint of hot milk or milk and water, and sea- 
son it with salt and pepper ; put in the soft parts 
of the clams, and simmer them gently for fifteen 
minutes where the heat is sufficiently gentle to pre- 
clude burning. Serve hot. 

Clam Chowder (4 qts.). — Small hard-shell clams 
are best liked for chowder. Wash the shells of 
fifty, put them over the fire in a saucepan with a 
pint of water, and cover them until the shells open; 
then take out the clams saving all the broth, and 
rinse them in it to remove every grain of sand ; 
leave the soft parts whole, and chop the hard parts 
quite fine ; strain the broth through a fine cloth to 
remove all sand. Peel and cut in half inch dice a 
quart of potatoes; peel and slice six onions, and six 
tomatoes, or use canned tomatoes ; cut half a pound 
of fat salt pork in dice, fry it brown in the bottom 
of a saucepan or round bottomed iron pot, and take 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 25 

it out with a skimmer, leaving the fat in the pot ; 
if the fire is hot turn a small plate bottom up in 
the pot to keep the chowder from burning. Put all 
these ingredients in the pot in layers, and when 
half are used put in half a pound of pilot crackers 
or sea biscuit; then add the rest of the ingredients, 
putting another half pound of crackers on the top, 
and pour in the clam broth and sufficient cold 
water to cover all an inch above the top ; add a 
seasoning of salt, pepper, and a little marjorum, 
thyme, and savory in the leaf; let the chowder sim- 
mer gently an hour; then add a cup of milk, and 
serve it. The onions are sometimes fried with the 
pork. 

Stewed Mussels. — When mussels are good their 
shells are dark and bright, and the fish do not 
shrink when they are boiled. Before boiling them 
lay them for two hours in a tub of cold water con- 
taining a handful of salt ; this will remove all mud 
and sand from them ; then wash them in fresh cold 
water, put them into a pot or saucepan and set 
them over the fire, covered, until the shells open. 
The mussels must then be taken from the shells, 
and carefully freed from the dark fringe upon their 
edges, the thread-like parts near the joint of the 
shells, and all mossy or hairy portions ; they will 
then be ready to use. To stew them heat them in 
a Dutch sauce made as directed in the recipe for 
Salt Codfish with Dutch Sauce, and serve them im- 
mediately, or simply heat them with butter, pepper, 
and salt. 

Pickled Mussels.— Boil them as directed in the 
previous recipe, put them in glass jars, and cover 



26 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

them with vinegar heated scalding hot with whole 
pepper, mace, and allspice. 

Boiled Lobster. — Choose a lively lobster, heavy 
in proportion to its weight ; put it into a large pot 
containing enough boiling water to entirely cover it, 
and let it boil fifteen minutes, or until its shell is 
bright red ; then remove it from the water, and cut it 
up as soon as it is cool enough to handle. The 
tail should be broken from the body and split down 
the centre with a sharp knife ; the intestine run- 
ning through it can then easily be seen and re- 
moved. The large claws should be broken off, and 
separated with a can-opener with less trouble than 
by breaking with a hammer, as they can be cut in 
such a way as to permit the flesh to be taken from 
them entire. All the soft, hairy fins which lie next 
to the body must be thrown away. When the body 
of the fish is opened the red coral and green fat 
should be saved ; the stomach, a hard, partly bony 
organ, which lies back of the eyes, should be 
thrown away. The lobster will then be ready to 
dress. 

Stewed Lobster. — Prepare the fish as directed in 
the last recipe, and heat it in a Dutch sauce, 
made as directed in the recipe for Salt Codfish with 
Dutch Sauce; or simply heat it quickly with suffi- 
cient cream or milk to moisten it, and a palatable 
seasoning of salt, pepper, and butter. 

Scalloped Lobster. — Prepare the lobster as di- 
rected in the recipe for Sieiued Lobster, mince the 
flesh fine, season it highly, put it into the split shell 
of the tail, with a tablespoonful of butter to each 
shell, dust it thickly with pounded cracker or bread- 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 27 

crumbs, and brown it in a very hot oven. Richer 
dishes of scalloped lobster are made by adding to 
them cream or Dutch sauce, and a little wine. 

Broiled Lobster. — Prepare the lobster as already 
directed ; split the body as well as the tail, leaving 
the flesh in the shell; dust the flesh with salt and 
pepper, put a very little butter over it, and broil it, 
the flesh towards the fire, for three or four minutes ; 
serve it very hot A cut lemon is a great addition 
to this dish. 



CHAPTER III. 

RELISHES FOR LUNCHEON OR SUPPER. 

Welsh Earebit with Ale. — Stir the following in- 
gredients together in a saucepan over the fire until 
they are smoothly blended, and then pour the rare- 
bit on a large slice of buttered toast, and serve it im- 
mediately ; quarter of a pound of cheese grated, two 
tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of ale, 
a saltspoonful each of salt and dry mustard, quarter 
of a saltspoonful of pepper, and a dust of cayenne. 
All rarebits should be eaten as soon as they are 
done, as they toughen by standing. 

Welsh Rarehit with Bread. — Make as in the 
former recipe, substituting half a cupful of bread 
without crust soaked soft in milk for the ale. 

Welsh Rarebit with Eggs. — Make as in the first 
recipe, substituting the yolks of two raw eggs beaten 
with half a cup of cold milk for the ale. 

Salmon Sandwiches. — Chop some cold smoked or 
picked salmon very fine, or pound it to a paste in 
a mortar, season it highly with pepper, mix it with 
an equal quantity of butter, and use it thinly spread 
on bread for sandwiches. 

Poultry or Game Sandwiches. — Chop fine cold 
poultry or game freed from skin and bone, or pound 
them to a paste in a mortar, season highly with salt, 
pepper, and cayenne. To make sandwiches butter 



RELISHES FOR LUNCHEON OR SUPPER. 2g 

some thin slices of bread, trim them to a small neat 
shape, lay a leaf of fresh lettuce on each, and en- 
close between them a layer of the cold poultry. 
The easiest way to cut bread for sandwiches is to 
trim the crust from a loaf at least a day old, cut 
one end perfectly even, butter it, and then cut off a 
thin slice ; do this until the needed quantity is 
ready. Finely chopped celery dressed with pepper, 
salt, and vinegar may replace the lettuce ; and a 
little cold Dutch sauce greatly adds to the palata- 
bility of the dish. 

Mackerel and Onion. — Freshen a salt mackerel as 
directed in the recipe for B7'oiled Salt Mackerel^ 
remove the skin and bones, and cut the flesh in 
small thin slices ; peel and slice very thinly a cup- 
ful of mild onions, lay them on the dish with the 
mackerel, dress them with three tablespoonfuls of 
oil, one of vinegar, and plenty of pepper, and serve 
with bread and butter or crackers. 

Salmaguixdi. — Arrange in successive rings on a 
salad dish the following ingredients, and dress them 
with oil, vinegar, and pepper, as directed in the pre- 
ceding recipe : equal quantities of herrings or bloat- 
ers, freed from skin and bone and cut in thin slices, 
pickled red cabbage, pickled beets chopped, and 
hard-boiled eggs. 

Potted Meat, Game, Fish, &c. — Free any kind of 
cold meat from skin, bone, and gristle, chop or 
pound it to a paste, adding to every pound of it two 
herrings, quarter of a pound of cooked ham fat or 
butter, season and spice it highly, pack it down in 
earthen jars, and cover it quarter of an inch above 
its surface with clarified butter; then cover the tops 



30 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

of the jars with buttered paper or bladder wet in 
cold water, tying it down tightly to keep out the 
air, and keep the jars in a cool place. 

Cold ham, tongue, poultry, game, or fish may be 
treated in this way ; smoked fish pots well. 

Clarified Butter. — Clarified butter is prepared by 
melting butter with gentle heat, and then carefully 
pouring it off the salt and fibrous substance which 
sink to the bottom of the vessel in which the butter 
is melted. 

Hot Egg Salad. — Chop one tablespoonful of 
pickle, mix it with an equal quantity of the grated 
rind and juice of a lemon, a saltspoonful of salt, a 
dash of cayenne pepper, and three tablespoonfuls 
of salad oil. Heat in a frying-pan one tablespoon- 
ful of oil, break three eggs into it and stir them 
over the fire two or three times, in order to slightly 
mix the whites and yolks ; let them cook three min- 
utes, then pour them on a salad dish, and serve the 
salad at once with the dressing described in the be- 
ginning of the recipe poured over them. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EGGS. 

Eggs with Burnt Butter. — Break half a dozen 
eggs, putting each one in a cup to keep them entire ; 
put four tablespoonfuls of butter into a frying-pan 
and brown it over the fire, slip the eggs into the hot 
butter and cook them to the desired degree ; then 
take them up with a skimmer, lay them on toast 
and set the dish containing them where they will 
keep hot. Pour half a cup of vinegar into the but- 
ter, let it boil up once, pour it over the eggs, and 
serve them hot. 

Baked Eggs and Cheese. — Lay some thin slices 
of cheese on a buttered flat baking dish, break as 
many eggs on the cheese as the dish will hold in a 
single layer, dust them with salt and pepper, put a 
small bit of butter on each one, and bake them to 
the required degree in a hot oven. Serve them 
hot. 

Baked Eggs, Ardennes Style. — Separate the whites 
and yolks of six eggs, putting each yolk by itself in 
a cup, and the whites all together in a bowl ; when 
all the eggs are broken beat the whites to a stiff 
froth, after adding to them a saltspoonful of salt 
and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper ; spread 
them on a buttered dish, slip the yolks on top, lay- 
ing them a little apart, and bake for five minutes in 



32 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

a hot oven, or until they are light brown ; dust 
pepper and salt over the top, and serve them hot. 

Fried Eggs with Pickles. — Put enough butter, 
lard, or ham fat in a hot frying-pan to entirely cover 
the bottom, break in as many eggs as it will hold, 
dust them with pepper and salt, cook them to the 
required degi"ee, and put them on a hot dish ; mean- 
time chop a large pickle finely, and put it into the 
frying-pan for one minute after the eggs have been 
taken up, then put it on them and serve them at 
once. 

Omelette with Crusts. — Fry a cupful of half- 
inch pieces of bread as directed in the recipe for 
Beafi Soup. Break three eggs and mix them for one 
minute with a saltspoonful of salt and quarter of a 
saltspoonful of pepper; meantime heat a large fry- 
ing-pan, melt a tablespoonful of butter in it, pour 
in the eggs, scatter the fried bread over them, and 
when they are cooked to the desired degree, roll 
the omelette towards one side of the pan by slipping 
a fork under one side and turning it over; then 
turn the omelette on a hot dish, and serve it at 
once. All omelettes should be eaten as soon as 
they are done. 

Onion Omelette. — Prepare three eggs as directed 
in the last recipe ; peel and slice three onions and fry 
them light brown in two tablespoonfuls of butter; 
then add the eggs, and finish the omelette as di- 
rected in the last recipe. A plain breakfast omelette 
can be made by leaving out the bread and onions. 



CHAPTER V. 

POULTRY AND BIRDS. * 

Roast Poultry. — As all poultry is roasted in 
the same way one recipe will suffice to cover the 
ground, the fact being kept in mind that different 
stuffings are required, for which recipes follow. 
To prepare a bird for roasting all the feathers 
must be removed, and flame from burning paper, 
or a little alcohol lighted on a plate, employed 
to singe off the hairs ; the outside should then 
be thoroughly wiped with a wet towel ; the feet 
should be cut off just below the joint at the end 
of the drumstick, and thrown into boiling water 
to soften the skin, and the joint itself scraped to 
remove the skin, and wiped with a wet towel; 
by cutting the legs below the joint the skin and 
flesh are held in place during the cooking of the 
bird. Next the head should be removed, the skin 
cut down the back of the neck and pulled forward 
to admit of the removal of the crop and windpipe 
v/ithout opening the skin in front ; the neck should 
be cut off close to the body, and laid by for subse- 
quent use. A slit should next be made, running 
from under one thigh to the vent and around it, and 
the skin loosened and opened to admit of the intro- 
duction of the hand, which should be used to loosen 
the entrails from the body in all directions so that 



34 THE PEOPLES COOKBOOK. 

they can be taken out without tearing them apart, 
by taking care to remove them in this way the 
danger of breaking them is lessened, and if they 
are not broken it will not be necessary to wash the 
inside of the bird ; the washing of poultry, by re- 
moving some of the blood, deprives it of a corre- 
sponding amount of nutriment and flavor ; after the 
entrails are taken out the heart, gizzard, and liver 
should be carefully separated from them ; the gall 
should be cut from the liver without breaking it, for 
if it is broken it will make everything it touches 
bitter; the purple flesh of the gizzard should be cut 
away from the bag of food and gravel which it con- 
tains ; the heart should be trimmed to remove any 
portion of the entrails adhering to it; then all these 
parts, together with the neck, and the feet, which must 
be scraped free from skin and have the toes cut 
ofl", may be put into water and boiled tender as the 
basis of gravy, or used to make a giblet stew. The 
little sack or oil bag at the back of the tail must be 
cut out, as the oil it contains is generally strong. 
The bird, so dressed, is ready for stuffing and truss- 
ing, or sewing with strong twine to preserve its 
shape during cooking. To roast, or rather bake 
poultry, lay it in a pan with a slice of salt pork 
under and another over it unless it is very fat, in 
which case it will yield sufficient dripping for bast- 
ing; brown it quickly, but do not burn it; thea 
season it with pepper, salt, and whatever sweet herb 
has been used in flavoring the stuffing, and baste it 
while it cooks with the dripping in the pan ; if the 
oven is of the proper temperature, not too hot, no 
water will be required for basting, and if only the 



POULTRY AND BIRDS. 35 

drippings are used for this purpose the full flavor of 
the bird will be preserved. If a " frothed " surface 
is desired occasionally dust the bird with flour from 
the dredging-box while basting it. To make the 
gravy have the meat from the giblets chopped fine, 
and the broth in which they were boiled hot when 
the bird is cooked; remove it from the dripping 
pan and keep it hot; if there is more than about 
half a cup of dripping in the pan pour it out, and 
keep it for frying potatoes in ; put into the pan two 
tablespoonfuls of flour and stir over the fire until it 
is brown, then add the chopped giblets and enough 
of their broth or of boiling water to make a good 
gravy, and season it palatably. About fifteen min- 
utes to a pound is generally allowed for baking 
poultry. Wild ducks and game are always served 
rare, and so require less time in cooking ; only their 
breasts are carved, and the rest of the birds are 
served again in ragoiits or brown stews. 

Roast Turkey with Oyster Forcemeat. — Prepare 
the turkey as directed in the recipe for Roast Poultry^ 
stuffing it with the following forcemeat : Soak suf- 
ficient stale bread to fill the turkey in cold water 
and then squeeze it nearly dry in a towel; strip one 
quart of oysters through the fingers to remove the 
bits of shell, strain their liquor and add it to the 
bread ; slightly fry the oysters in two tablespoonfuls 
of hot butter, add them to the bread with the but- 
ter in which they were fried, season the forcemeat 
with salt and pepper, and use it for the turkey. In- 
stead of the oysters any flavoring or seasoning may 
be used in the stuffing. 

Turkey Stew with Chestnuts. — Use the remains 



36 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK, 

of roast turkey cut in pieces two inches square, 
brown it quickly in a saucepan with sufficient but- 
ter to prevent burning, stir in with it two table- 
spoonfuls of flour, and brown that ; meantime cut 
the shells of a quart of large chestnuts (the native 
nuts will do, if imported ones are scarce or dear), 
put them into a hot oven or in a frying-pan over 
the fire until the shells open sufficiently to permit 
the removal of the nuts ; rub off the skins with a 
damp cloth, and when the turkey is brown add 
them to it with enough boiling water to make a 
gravy; season the stew with salt and pepper and 
let it cook gently for half an hour; then serve it on 
toast. The chestnuts may be replaced with small 
dumplings, pieces of potato, or small onions if the 
change is desirable. 

Devilled Turkey. — The wings and drumsticks of 
cold turkey make the best dish ; score them with a 
sharp knife, season them highly with salt, pepper, 
cayenne, and dry mustard, broil them over a hot 
fire, put a little butter on them, and serve them hot, 
with a cut lemon or some vinegar. 

Roast Duck with Onion Stuffing. — Prepare the 
duck as directed in the recipe for Roast Poultry; 
soak a cupful of stale bread in cold water and 
squeeze it nearly dry in a towel; peel and slice a 
pint of onions, fry them brown with two tablespoon- 
fuls of butter, mix the soaked bread with them, 
season the stuffing highly with salt, pepper, and 
powdered sage, and use it in the duck. 

Devilled Duck. — This is a good recipe for dress- 
ing a small duck. Prepare the bird as directed in 
the recipe for Roast Poultry^ split it down the back, 



POULTRY AND BIRDS. 37 

prick the skin all over with a large fork, rub into it 
a mixture of salt, pepper, cayenne, dry mustard, 
and a little of any good table sauce, and broil it 
about twenty minutes ; serve it hot, with a little but- 
ter and lemon juice or vinegar. 

Braised Duck with Green Peas. — Prepare a small 
duck as for roasting, but do not stuff it ; put it into 
a saucepan with a layer of slices of salt pork or 
bacon under it ; over it strew half a cupful of mixed 
minced parsley, leek or onion, and green mint; sea- 
son it with salt and pepper, set the saucepan over 
the fire, and turn the duck occasionally until it is 
brown all over; meantime shell a quart of green 
peas ; when the duck is brown cover it with boiling 
water, put in the peas and stew it gently until the 
bird is tender; then serve the duck laid on the 
bacon and peas. 

Stewed Duck with Cabbage. — Slice a small head 
of red cabbage, put it into a saucepan on a table- 
spoonful each of butter and vinegar with a dozen 
whole cloves, a dozen peppercorns, and a teaspoon- 
ful of salt; cover it and set it where it will cook very 
slowly. Meantime cut in two inch pieces the re- 
mains of cold roast duck, brown them in a table- 
spoonful of butter, seasoning highly with pepper 
and salt ; when quite brown put them on top of the 
cabbage and continue the gentle cooking until the 
cabbage is tender ; turn it out on a dish and serve 
the duck on it. 

Roast Goose with Apple Stuffing. — Prepare the 
goose as directed in the recipe for Roast Poultry. 
Pare, core, and quarter enough small tart apples to 
fill the bird ; slightly brown them in a frying-pan 



38 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

containing about half an inch of hot butter, season 
them with salt, pepper, and a very little allspice, 
put them into the goose, and sew it up tightly so 
that none may escape during the cooking of the 
bird. In Germany half the stuffing is composed of 
prunes or raisins heated in butter with the apples, 
or used uncooked. 

Ragout of Goose and Onions. — Cut up the re- 
mains of cold roast goose, brown it quickly in a 
saucepan with only enough butter to prevent burn- 
ing ; in another saucepan brown a pint of peeled 
button onions with a tablespoonful of butter and a 
teaspoonful of sugar ; when the goose is brown stir 
a tablespoonful of flour with it, put in the onions, 
and boiling water enough to cover it ; rinse the 
saucepan in which the onions were browned with 
half a cup of boiling water and add it to the goose ; 
season the stew with pepper and salt, and cook it 
slowly for half an hour. 

Goose Giblet Stew. — Prepare the giblets of a goose 
as directed in the recipe for Roast Poultry; in ad- 
dition to the giblets mentioned in that recipe the 
head is used after being carefully plucked or skin- 
ned, and having the beak chopped off; the pinions 
or wing tips also belong among the giblets ; the gib- 
lets should be cut in pieces about an inch square, 
and browned in a tablespoonful of hot butter; a 
tablespoonful of flour should then be added and 
browned, and sufficient boiling water to cover them, 
together with salt and pepper to make a palatable 
seasoning, and the stew gently cooked until the 
gizzard is tender. 

A cupful of peeled and sliced onion is some- 



POULTRY AND BIRDS. 39 

times added to the stew, or two cupfuls of tart ap- 
ples, pared and quartered. It should be served 
hot, on toast. 

Roast Chicken. — Prepare the bird as directed in 
the recipe for Roast Poultry and stuff it with the 
following forcemeat : soak two cupfuls of stale 
bread in cold water and squeeze it dry in a towel ; 
chop together the liver and an equal quantity of 
salt pork or bacon, and add it to the bread ; add 
also a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, ateaspoon- 
ful of chopped onion, and a teaspoonful of grated 
lemon rind if it is available; season the forcemeat 
highly with pepper, salt, and any powdered sweet 
herb except sage, and use it to stuff the chicken. 

Spring chickens do not require stuffing, and 
should be roasted very quickly to avoid drying the 
flesh, about a half hour being generally time enough 
to allow. 

Braised Fowl. — Prepare a fowl as directed in the 
recipe for Roast Poultry^ but do not stuff it ; lay it 
in a saucepan on some thin slices of salt pork or 
bacon, put with it a calf's foot nicely cleaned and 
split, or a pound of tripe well washed, a whole car- 
rot scraped, an onion peeled and stuck with ten 
whole cloves, ten peppercorns, two teaspoonfuls of 
salt, and sufficient boiling water or water and 
gravy to cover it ; cover the saucepan tightly, clos- 
ing the edges of the cover with a thick paste of 
flour and water, and set it where its contents will 
cook very slowly for three hours. Then i^the fowl 
is tender take it up, strain the gravy, remove the 
fat from it, season it palatably, and serve it with 
the fowl. The tripe, bacon and vegetables may be 



40 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

rubbed through a wire sieve with a potato masher 
and used to thicken the gravy if desired. 

Fowl Stewed Whole. — Prepare the fowl as direct- 
ed in the recipe for Roast Poultry^ but do not stuff 
it; brown it in hot butter in a saucepan just large 
enough to hold it; then cover it with boiHng water, 
season it with salt and pepper, add one carrot and 
one onion peeled and sliced; cover the saucepan 
closely, and simmer the fowl until it is tender; serve 
it with the sauce containing the vegetables. 

Chicken Fried with Hominy. — Dress a tender 
chicken as directed in the recipe for Roast Poultry, 
and cut it in pieces about two inches square. In a 
large frying-pan heat smoking hot enough lard to 
cover the bottom half an inch deep; then very 
quickly dip the pieces of chicken, one at a time, 
into cold water, roll them in flour, pepper, and salt, 
and put them at once into the hot lard ; work very 
fast, and as the pieces brown lay them on one side 
of the pan to make room for others , when all are 
done, put them on a hot dish, and fry little squares 
or cakes of cold boiled hominy in the same fat ; 
serve them on the dish with the chicken. If a 
gravy is desired stir a tablespoonful of flour into 
the fat in the frying-pan, add a cup of cream, if 
obtainable, or a cup of milk with the yolk of a raw 
egg beaten into it, removing it at once from the fire 
if the milk and egg are used , season it palatably 
with salt and pepper, and serve it in a bowl. In 
the SoiAh gravy is not poured over the chicken if 
fried hominy is served with it. 

Boiled Hominy. — Pick over and wash in three 
waters half a pint of hominy ; put it over the fire 



POULTRY AND BIRDS. 4 1 

in a pint and a half of cold water, let it slowly 
reach the boiling point, and boil it steadily for half 
an hour, stirring it occasionally to prevent burning ; 
if at the end of twenty-five minutes the hominy is 
not thick enough to hold the spoon upright leave 
the cover off the kettle in which it is boiling, so 
that some of the moisture may escape in steam ; 
stir in a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful 
each of butter and flour. Wet an earthen dish 
with cold water and pour the hominy into it to 
cool. 

If a farina kettle is used for boiling the hominy 
the water in the outer kettle must boil constantly, 
and a quarter of an hour extra must be allowed. 

Chicken and Sweet Corn. — Prepare a young 
chicken as directed in the preceding recipe, but 
do not dip it in water or flour; fry it brown in a 
saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of hot butter; 
add the grains cut from a dozen ears of corn and 
a quart of milk, and stew gently for half an hour ; 
then season palatably with pepper and salt, and 
serve. 

Chicken and Green Peas. — Cut cold roast or 
boiled chicken in small pieces, brown them in but- 
ter, stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and when it is 
brown add a can of peas and the liquor in which 
they were preserved ; season with salt and pepper, 
heat five minutes, and serve on toast. 

Ragout of Small Birds. — Remove all feathers 
from small birds, draw them, brown them quickly in 
a little butter, cover them with boiling water, season 
them with salt and pepper, and let them gently 
stew while some hominy is being fried. Cut slices 



42 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

of cold boiled hominy, prepared as directed in the 
recipe for boiled hominy, allowing as many slices 
as there are birds, fry them brown in smoking hot 
fat, lay a bird on each slice, and pour over all the 
sauce in which the birds were stewed. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MEATS. 

Roasting. — The roasting of meat is so simple 
an operation that the wonder is how many juice- 
less and flavorless joints find their way to the ta- 
ble. In a book of this size it is not possible to 
give more than the outlines of proper methods of 
cookery; the discussion of reasons for following 
them belongs to and is given in the author's larger 
works. American roasts usually consist of baked 
meats ; but baked meats can be cooked so as to re- 
tain all their flavor and juices by paying attention 
to the following rules : do not wash meat ; if it 
has on it bits of straw, sawdust, or any other sub- 
stance which it is likely to gather in the butcher's 
shop, wipe its surface with a wet cloth, or scrape 
it ; if it is torn or dried trim off" the poor parts ; 
never use tainted meat ; do not season meat until 
after its surface is brown ; do not put water into 
the pan with meat prepared for baking, but if the 
joint is very lean add to it sufficient dripping to 
prevent the burning of the pan; while the meat 
requires to be browned quickly in order to keep in 
all the juices, do not let the oven be hot enough 
to burn it ; if possible keep one oven for cooking 
meat and another for pies and cakes ; make the 
gravy for roast meats as directed in the recipes 



44 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

for roast poultry. Rare roast meats require about 
fifteen minutes to the pound, well done roasts 
twenty minutes ; veal and pork should be very 
well done. 

Broiling. — The rules for roasting meat apply to 
broiling, except that instead of cooking it in the 
oven it is to be quickly browned first on one side 
and then on the other, over a hot fire, and removed 
a little from the fire to finish cooking; meat an 
inch thick will broil in about twenty minutes ; it 
should be seasoned after it is cooked. 

Boiling and Stewing. — Fresh meat for boiling 
should be put into boiling water and boiled very 
gently about twenty minutes for each pound; a 
little salt, spice, or vegetables may be boiled in the 
water with the meat for seasoning; a little vine- 
gar put in the water with tough meat makes it 
tender ; the broth of boiled meat should always be 
saved to use in soups, stews, and gravies. 

Stewing and simmering meats means to place 
them near enough to the fire to keep the water 
on them bubbling moderately, constantly and 
slowly. 

Salt meats should be put over the fire in cold 
water, and that as soon as it boils should be re- 
placed by fresh cold water, the water being changed 
until it remains fresh enough to give the meat a 
palatable flavor when done; salted and smoked 
meats require about thirty minutes' very slow boil- 
ing, from the time the water boils, to each pound ; 
vegetables and herbs may be boiled with them to 
flavor them ; when they are cooked the vessel con- 
taining them should be set where they will keep 



MEA TS. 45 

hot without boiling until required, if they are to be 
served hot ; if to be served cold they should be al- 
lowed to cool in the pot liquor in which they were 
boiled ; very salt meats, or those much dried in 
smoking, should be soaked over night in cold water 
before boiling. 

Frying. — There are two distinct methods of fry- 
ing, one with very little fat in the pan ; to practise 
this successfully the pan and fat must be hot before 
the article to be fried is put into it ; for instance, 
in frying chops, if the pan is hot, and only fat 
enough is used to keep the chops from sticking to 
it, the heat being maintained so that the chops 
cook quickly, they will be nearly as nice as if they 
were broiled. Frying by the other method con- 
sists in entirely immersing the article to be cooked 
in sufficient smoking hot fat to cover it, and keep- 
ing the fat at that degree of heat until the food 
is brown ; it should then be taken up with a skim- 
mer and laid on brown paper for a moment to free 
it from grease. 

Warming over Cold Meat. — As a variation to 
the usual ways of serving cold meats in cold and 
ragged joints or uninviting hash, the suggestion is 
offered that after the housekeeper has sliced off 
what she desires to serve cold she should try the 
few recipes for warming cold meats which form 
part of this chapter ; they are but the slightest 
hint of what can 6e done with cold meat ; a vol- 
ume would be required for the adequate treatment 
of this subject. 

Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce. — Roast a 
piece of beef according to the directions given for 



4-6 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

roasting meat, and serve it with a sauce made as 
follows, or with grated horseradish and vinegar : 

Horseradish Sauce. — Put two tablespoonfuls of 
grated horseradish into a bowl ; stir into it with a 
wooden spoon the yolk of a raw egg, three table- 
spoonfuls of salad oil added gradually, one table- 
spoonful of vinegar, a saltspoonful of salt, and 
quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper. 

Braised Beef. — Choose a strip of the flank of 
beef three or four times as long as it is wide, and 
weighing 'about four pounds, wipe it with a wet 
cloth, season it highly with salt, pepper, and ground 
cloves, roll it compactly, and tie it in shape with a 
strong cord ; heat a tablespoonful qf drippings in a 
saucepan large enough to hold the beef, put it into 
the hot fat, and turn it about until it is browned on 
all sides ; then put over it two tablespoonfuls of 
flour and turn it over repeatedly until the flour is 
brown; cover it with boiling water, season the 
gravy thus made palatably with salt and pepper, put 
on the cover of the saucepan, cement it around the 
edges with a thick paste of flour and water, and 
place it where its contents will simmer for three 
hours. In two hours prepare a red cabbage as di- 
rected in the recipe for Stewed JDtick with Cabbage, 
and cook it slowly until tender; keep it hot to 
serve under the beef, from which the string must 
be' removed before it is laid on the cabbage; serve 
the sauce of the beef in a gravy bowl. 

Stew of Tough Beef. — When a tough piece of 
beef is to be cooked cut it in two-inch pieces, 
dip each piece in vinegar, put them into a saucepan 
without water, season them with salt and pepper, 



ME A TS. 47 

cover the saucepan tightly, and stew its contents 
gently for two hours. Then pare an equal quantity 
of potatoes, cut them in half-inch pieces, put them 
with the beef, add sufficient boiling water to cover 
them, with a little salt and pepper, and continue 
cooking the stew until they are tender ; serve it hot. 

Ragodt of Cold Beef and Vegetables. — Cut cold 
beef in inch squares, brown it in hot drippings, 
sprinkle it with flour and let that brown, cover it 
with boiling water, and season it with salt and pep- 
per; add to it any cold vegetables cut in similar 
pieces, heat them, and serve the stew. 

Roast Leg of Lamb or Mutton. — Wipe a leg of 
lamb or mutton with a wet cloth ; run a sharp thin 
bladed knife between the skin and flesh where the 
leg is thickest, in such a manner as to form a pouch 
for the stuffing ; into this pouch put the flesh of a 
red herring, highly seasoned with pepper, and 
pounded to a paste, forcing it as far as possible 
under the skin ; roast the leg according to the di- 
rections given for roasting all kinds of meat. French 
cooks put a clove of garlic into the flesh close to 
the end of the shank bone of a leg of mutton be- 
fore roasting it. 

Garlic Cloves. — Garlic when marketed looks some- 
what like a dried tuberose root ; it divides when 
broken into many small lobes called " cloves ;" each 
clove is covered with an inner skin which must be 
removed before the clove is used for flavoring. 

Fried Breast of Mutton. — Boil a breast of mut- 
ton, according to the directions for boiling meat, 
until it is tender enough to permit the bones to be 
pulled out ; lay it between two platters, under a 



48 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK, 

weight, until it is quite cold ; then roll it in bread- 
crumbs and fry it whole in a dripping pan large 
enough to hold it flat, in sufficient smoking hot fat 
to cover it ; or cut it in small pieces, before bread- 
ing it, and fry it in an ordinary frying kettle. Fried 
onions or tomatoes may be used to garnish this dish. 

Breading. — The " breading" of any article con- 
sists of simply rolling its moist surface in sifted 
bread-crumbs or cracker dust; if the crumbs are 
unlikely to stick the article is next dipped in beaten 
egg, and then again rolled in crumbs. The 
crumbs should always be sifted so that they maybe 
of one size, and as fine as possible, or they will be 
apt to fall off during frying. They are made by 
drying stale bread, rolling it fine, and sifting it 
through a fine sieve ; the coarser crumbs may again 
be rolled and sifted, or kept for stuffing or puddings. 
Crackers can be rolled in the same way ; cracker 
dust is sold ready for use. 

Irish Stew. — Cut three pounds of breast of mut- 
ton in two-inch pieces, put it into a saucepan with 
a quart of boiling water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, 
and a saltspoonful of pepper, and stew all together 
gently for an hour; then add a pint of onions 
peeled and sliced, and a quart of potatoes peeled 
and cut in inch pieces, and again stew gently for 
an hour ; the stew should be kept closely covered 
while cooking. 

Persillade of Mutton. — Slice cold mutton, lay it 
on a dish which can be sent to the table, sprinkle 
the surface thinly with chopped onion and parsley, 
season it highly with salt and pepper, cover it with 
cold gravy, dust the surface with bread or cracker 



ME A TS. 49 

crumbs, and brown it in the oven ; serve it at once. 

Veal a la Mode. — Wipe with a wet cloth a solid 
piece of lean veal weighing five or six pounds ; 
make half a dozen holes in it by running the knife 
steel through it, parallel with the fibre of meat, and 
working it about to make holes large enough to ad- 
mit the forefinger ; fill the holes with a forcemeat 
made as directed in the recipe for Jioast Chicken^ 
omitting the chicken liver ; lay the veal in a sauce- 
pan just large enough to hold it, pour over it boil- 
ing water, sprinkle in a teaspoonful of salt, and half 
a saltspoonful of pepper, cover it steam tight, and 
stew it gently for two hours ; if the gravy is not 
thick enough stir in a little flour mixed with cold 
water, and boil it for two minutes ; remove the meat 
before adding the flour. 

Breast of Veal Baked with Tomatoes. — After 
wiping a breast of veal with a wet cloth lay it in a 
small dripping pan, and brown it quickly in a hot 
oven. Meantime peel and slice a pint of tomatoes, 
or use those which have been canned ; when the 
veal is brown season it highly with pepper and salt, 
pour the tomatoes over it, and bake it until the 
meat is well done. Serve it with the tomatoes on 
the. same dish. 

Breast of Veal Braised. — After wiping a breast 
of veal with a wet towel remove the bones with a 
sharp knife, season it with salt and pepper, roil it 
and tie it compactly ; put it over the fire in boiling 
water enough to cover it, with a small onion and 
turnip peeled, a small carrot scraped, a dozen 
whole cloves, half a teaspoonful of pepper-corns, 
and a teaspoonful of salt ; fasten the cover of the 



50 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

saucepan with a thick paste of flour and water, and 
gently cook the veal for two hours. Then take it 
up, remove the string, and keep it hot ; strain the 
broth, and use it to make a white sauce as follows: 

White Sauce. — For each pint desired mix to- 
gether over the fire a tablespoonful each of butter 
and flour until they bubble ; then gradually stir in 
a pint of boiling broth or water, stirring constantly 
until all lumps are removed, season palatably with 
pepper and salt, and let the sauce boil before using it. 

Before taking up the meat peel a pint of potatoes, 
cut them in half-inch dice, throw them into salted 
boiling water and boil them until tender ; then mix 
them with the white sauce, put them on a platter, 
and serve the veal on them. 

Veal with Brown Sauce. — Cut cold veal in two- 
inch pieces, brown them over the fire in sufficient 
hot butter to prevent burning, dust flour over them, 
about a tablespoonful for two pounds of meat ; 
when the flour is brown cover the meat with boil- 
ing water, season the stew highly with salt and pep- 
per, add to it sufficient nice table sauce to flavor it, 
and when it has boiled five minutes serve it on toast. 

Boiled Tongue. — Proceed according to the di- 
rections given in the recipe for Boiling Salt Meats. 
When the tongue is done the skin can easily be 
stripped off, and the rough parts about the root 
trimmed away ; these parts, freed from bone and 
gristle, make excellent hash. 

Boiled Corned Beef. — Follow the directions for 
Boiling Salt Meats. When vegetables are to be 
served with corned beef they may be boiled with it 
until tender, allowing them to cook only long 



ME A TS. 5 1 

enough to make them tender. Cabbage is usually 
boiled several hours, when it will sometimes boil 
tender in a quarter or half an hour ; by unnecessary 
boiling it becomes watery, and emits an unpleasant 
and penetrating vapor. 

Boiled Ham. — Follow the directions for Boiling 
Salt Meats. When the ham is done, if it is to be 
served hot, take it up, strip off the skin, dust it with 
fine bread-crumbs or cracker dust, and brown it in 
a quick oven. 

Boiled Salt Pork with Greens. — Follow the recipe 
for Boiled Corned Beef^ using young beets, beet 
tops, spinach, dandelions, cabbage sprouts, or kale, 
instead of head cabbage. 

Pork Chops, Spanish Style. — Trim off nearly all 
the fat, chop it and put it into a hot frying-pan 
over the fire until it is brown ; then fry the chops 
brown in the same fat, season them with. salt and 
pepper, squeeze over them the juice of a sour 
orange, and keep them hot while some eggs, one for 
each chop, are being fried in the same fat ; when 
the eggs are cooked to the desired degree lay them 
on the chops, pour the fat over them, and serve at 
once. 

Roast Pork.— Use the chine or loin of fresh 
pork ; cut out the bone, replace it with a stuffing of 
stale bread soaked soft in cold water and seasoned 
highly with salt, pepper, powdered sage, and a lit- 
tle chopped onion ; sew up the cut to keep in the 
stuffing, and bake the pork in a moderate oven half 
an hour to each pound ; season it when brown with 
salt, pepper, and powdered sage. More than all 
other meats pork requires thorough cooking. 



52 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

Pork Tenderloins. — Stuff and roast them accord- 
ing to the preceding recipe; or split them open, 
and fry, or broil them very brown ; season them 
with salt, pepper, and powdered sage ; or in place 
of the sage, when they are fried, mix some chop- 
ped pickle with the gravy, and pour it over them. 
Cook them thoroughly. 

Philadelphia Scrapple. — Wash a fresh pig's head, 
or use in its place about five pounds of the trimmings 
of pork mixed with the liver, heart, tongue, brains, 
and feet ; boil the meat in four quarts of water with 
a tablespoonful of salt, until the bones fall out; 
then strain it, pouring it into a fine sieve ; wash out 
the pot, put the broth again into it, and set it over 
the fire ; remove every particle of bone from the 
meat, chop it fine,, and return it to the broth ; sea- 
son it very highly with salt, pepper, sage, thyme, 
and mar jorum ; let it boil, and then stir into it yel- 
low Indian meal until the spoon will stand upright 
in it ; let it boil slowly for an hour, stirring it often 
enough to prevent burning; then pour it out in 
square cornered pans wet with cold water, and let 
it cool. It will then be ready to slice, roll in Indian 
meal, and fry in smoking hot fat, whenever it is 
wanted. 

In the author's School of Cookery this dish is 
sometimes made of the trimmings of beef, veal, or 
mutton, the liver, heart, tongue, and brains being 
also used. 

Broiled Liver.— Cut the liver of lamb, calf, or beef 
into pieces half an inch thick and two inches square ; 
cut an equal number of thin slices of salt pork or 
bacon ; put the liver and bacon alternately on metal 



MEATS. 53 

skewers, arranging the slices loosely so that the 
heat may reach them equally, and broil them 
thoroughly ; season them with salt and pepper, and 
serve them, on the skewers, on toast. 

Baked Liver and Bacon. — Put in a baking dish, 
in alternate layers, a pound of liver and half a 
pound of bacon sliced, together with a quart of 
potatoes and two onions peeled and sliced ; season 
highly with salt and pepper, pour in sufficient hot 
water to half cover these ingredients, and bake 
them three quarters of an hour, or until all are 
done. A crust of plain pastry, or of mashed pota- 
toes may be used to cover the pudding if desired. 

Ragout of Pickled Tongue. — Cut in inch pieces 
any kind of cold pickled tongue, brown them in hot 
butter enough to prevent burning, cover them with 
boiling water, and season the ragodt highly with 
pepper and salt ; peel and slice an equal quantity 
of potatoes, add them to the ragodt^ and stew it 
gently until they are tender. 

Apples Stuffed with Sausage. — Remove the cores 
from sour apples without breaking them, stuff them 
with highly seasoned sausage meat, and bake them 
until the meat is done, in a moderate oven ; serve 
them hot, on toast, with the drippings in the pan 
poured over them. Any other chopped meat, raw 
or cooked, may be substituted for the sausage meat. 



CHAPTER VII. 

VEGETABLES. 

Boiled Potatoes. — If potatoes are ripe they can 
always be made mealy by careful cooking. They 
are to be well washed with a cloth or brush in 
plenty of cold water; if they are to be served in 
their jackets, a strip of the paring should be cut off 
all around each potato ; or they may be entirely 
peeled before cooking, but even in careful hands 
this entails the loss of about an ounce in each 
pound, and some of the loss is of valuable mineral 
elements; it is better to boil them in their jackets 
and peel them before serving. 

Some cooks prefer to put them over the fire in 
cold water, but their cooking is expedited by using 
actually boiling water enough to cover them, with a 
tablespoonful of salt to each quart of water, and 
boiling them until tender, but not broken ; the wa- 
ter should then be poured off, the potatoes covered 
with a folded towel, and the saucepan containing 
them placed where they can keep hot without burn- 
ing for five or ten minutes; the moisture of the po- 
tatoes will escape through the towel in the form of 
steam, leaving them dry and mealy. They should 
be covered with a napkin when served, not with the 
cover of the dish; the steam condensing on the 
dish cover and falling upon the potatoes in the form 
of moisture makes them soggy even if they have 



VEGETABLES. 55 

been carefully cooked ; they should not be taken 
from the saucepan until wanted for the table. 

Baked Potatoes. — Wash them thoroughly, put 
them into a hot oven, bake them only until they are 
tender enough to break open easily, and serve them 
as soon as they are done; cover them only with a 
napkin in sending them to the table ; and remember 
that a baked potato is never so nice if it has been 
allowed to stand before it is eaten. 

Larded Potatoes. — After washing use an apple- 
corer to take a piece out of the potatoes from end 
to end ; keep these pieces in cold water to use for 
the dish next named ; in each potato put a strip of 
salt pork or bacon seasoned with pepper, and bake 
them in an earthen dish in which they can be sent 
to the table. Serve them hot. 

Fried Bacon and Potatoes. — Brown quarter of a 
pound of thin slices of bacon in a frying-pan, stir 
among them a tablespoonful of flour, a pint of boil- 
ing water, and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper ; 
slice a pint of potatoes, whole or in pieces, put them 
with the bacon and stew them until tender ; serve 
them hot. 

Potatoes and Onions. — Peel, slice, and fry in two 
tablespoonfuls of drippings half a dozen onions ; 
boil, peel, and slice a quart of potatoes, or heat 
with a little butter some cold sliced ones ; season 
them with salt and pepper, pour the onions over 
them, and serve them hot. Bacon fried, and served 
with this dish, is excellent ; the bacon drippings 
serving to fry the onions. Fried ham may be used 
in the same way. 

Stuffed SWeet Potatoes. — Wash, boil tender in 



56 THE PEOPLE'S COOKBOOK. 

boiling water, cut a slice from one side of each one, 
scoop out nearly all the interior, mash it with pep- 
per, salt, and butter, or omit the butter using in- 
stead some cooked bacon, fat ham, or sausage meat ; 
return this forcemeat to the potatoes, replace the 
slices first cut off, put the potatoes in the oven to 
heat for ten minutes, and serve them hot. 

Potatoes Fried in Cream. — Mix together over the 
fire half a tablespoonful each of flour and butter until 
it bubbles, stir in half a pint of hot milk, beating the 
sauce smooth, season with a saltspoonful of salt and 
quarter as much pepper ; use enough of this sauce 
to moisten some cold chopped potatoes, and fry 
them brown in butter, keeping them pressed to- 
gether to make a cake. Cold chopped potatoes are 
nice browned in fat without the sauce, and seasoned 
with salt and pepper. 

Potato Balls. — Use cold mashed potatoes; heat 
them with butter, pepper, and salt, mix with each 
pint the yolk of a raw egg, and a tablespoonful of 
chopped parsley ; wet the hands in cold water, 
make up the potato in little balls, roll them in flour, 
and fry them light brown in smoking hot fat. A 
variation in this dish may be made by substituting 
grated onion for the parsley. 

Stewed Carrots. — Scrape a pint of small carrots, 
boil them tender in boiling water and salt ; make a 
cream sauce as directed in the recipe for Potatoes 
Fried in Cream., put the carrots into it with a table- 
spoonful of lemon-juice, and serve them at once. 

Carrots, Flemish Style. — Scrape and slice two 
large carrots, boil them tender in boiling water and 
salt, heat them in some white sauce made as di- 



VEGETABLES. 5' 

rected in the previous recipe, using water instead 
of milk, remove them from the fire, stir in the yolk 
of a raw egg, and a tablespoonful of chopped pars- 
ley, and serve them. 

Fried Carrots. — Cut boiled carrots in thick slices, 
roll them in flour, pepper, and salt, and fry them 
brown in hot fat. 

Stewed Turnips. — Dress them as directed in the 
recipe for Carrots^ Fleitiish Style^ substituting a tea- 
spoonful of mustard and a tablespoonful of vinegar 
for the chopped parsley. 

Glazed Turnips. — Pare a dozen small turnips, 
boil them tender in boiling water and salt, dry them 
on a towel, put them over the fire in a saucepan con- 
taining a tablespoonful of butter and a teaspoonful 
of sugar, and shake the saucepan occasionally until 
they are brown ; serve hot. 

Cabbage and Onions. — Peel and slice four onions, 
fry them brown in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls 
of drippings from salt pork or bacon; meantime 
slice a small white cabbage, put it with the browned 
onions, season with a teaspoonful of salt and quarter 
of a saltspoonful of pepper, cover the saucepan tight, 
and cook its contents until the cabbage is tender. 
A tablespoonful of vinegar may be added just be- 
fore serving. 

Cabbage Fried with Cream. — Chop a quart of 
cold boiled cabbage, fry it fifteen minutes with 
sufficient butter or drippings to prevent burning, 
season it highly with pepper and salt, and stir into 
it half a cupful of cream or of milk with a teaspoon- 
ful of flour mixed with it; let it cook five minutes 
longer, and serve it hot. 



58 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

Glazed Onions. — Dress peeled button onions as 
directed in the recipe for Glazed Tu7'nips. 

Stewed Onions. — Peel a quart of onions and boil 
them tender in boiling water and salt; dry them on 
a towel, roll them in flour, pepper, and salt, fry 
them brown in sufficient butter to prevent burning, 
cover them with cold gravy, stew them five minutes, 
and serve them hot. 

Fried Onions and Bread. — Fry three slices of bread 
in plenty of hot fat and lay them on a dish; peel 
and slice a pint of onions, fry them brown in the 
same fat, putting a few into the fat at once, and 
serve them on the bread. 

Stewed String-Beans. — Remove the strings from 
a pint of beans, cut them in long slivers, wash them 
in cold water, and boil them tender in boiling water 
and salt ; drain off nearly all the water, season them 
with pepper, add a tablespoonful of butter and the 
yolk of one raw egg, and serve them at once. 

Boiled String-Beans. — String one quart of beans, 
break them in inch-lengths, wash them in cold 
water; and put them over the fire in a quart of 
boiling water, with quarter of a pound of salt pork 
sliced ; boil until the beans are tender, drain oif the 
water, season palatably with salt and pepper, and 
serve hot. 

Green Peas Boiled. — If the shells of the peas are 
dirty wash them, but do not wash the peas after they 
are shelled ; put them into boiling water enough 
to cover them a couple of inches, with a table- 
spoonful of salt for each quart of water, and three 
or four sprigs of green mint, and boil them steadily 
until they are just tender; then if they are to be 



V 



VEGETABLES. .59 

used immediately remove the mint, drain off the 
water, season them palatably with salt, pepper, and 
butter, and serve them at once. If they are not re- 
quired when they are tender, drain from them the 
boiling water, remove the mint, and put them into 
cold water until they are wanted for the table ; then 
pour off the cold water and quickly heat them with 
salt, pepper, and butter. 

Green Peas and Bacon. — Prepare the peas as di- 
rected in the foregoing recipe ; cut for each quart 
of peas quarter of a pound of bacon in half-inch 
strips, fry it brown in the bottom of a saucepan, 
put the peas with it, add sufficient boiling water to 
just cover them, and boil them tender ; season them 
palatably with pepper and salt, and serve them at 
once. 

They may also be cooked by boiling them with a 
larger single piece of salt pork. 

Stewed Beets. — Wash two large beets without 
breaking the skin or cutting off the roots or stalks ; 
boil them for an hour in boiling water ; then take 
them up, and with a wet cloth rub off the skin. 
Mix together in a saucepan over the fire one table- 
spoonful each of butter and flour until they bubble, 
then stir in one pint of boiling water, a saltspoonful 
of salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and a 
tablespoonful of vinegar ; slice the beets into this 
sauce, cook them slowly for an hour where they can- 
not burn, and then serve them hot. 

Fried Beets. — Boil the beets as directed in the 
preceding recipe, but allow them to boil until they 
are tender ; then remove the skin, slice them half 
an inch thick, roll them in flour, pepper, and salt, 



\ 



6o. THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

and fry them brown in smoking hot butter; lay 
them on a hot dish, pour two tablespoonfuls of vine- 
gar into the pan in which they were fried, let it boil 
once, and pour it over the beets ; serve them hot. 

Sugar Beet Pudding.^Grate or cut in half-inch 
pieces two cupfuls of boiled beets ; add to them six 
eggs beaten smooth, one pint of milk, one teaspoon- 
ful of salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and 
a tablespoonful of butter ; bake these ingredients in 
an earthen dish for half an hour in a moderate oven. 
Serve the pudding hot as a vegetable. 

Fried Cauliflower. — Lay the cauliflower root up- 
wards in plenty of cold, salted water for an hour to 
remove the insects from it ; trim off the leaves, put 
it into a large saucepan with boiling water enough 
to cover it, and a tablespoonful of salt, and boil it 
just tender, but do not let it boil too soft ; drain off 
the water entirely by laying it on a sieve ; dust it 
on the blossom surface with flour, pepper, and salt, 
and fry it in sufficient smoking hot fat to quite 
cover the floured part ; serve it hot. It is rather 
difficult to avoid breaking the cauliflower, and a 
novice in cookery will best succeed with this dish if 
she cuts the cauliflower in branches before boiling it, 
and flours the pieces all over before frying them. 
Fried cauliflower is also prepared by dipping the 
branches in a batter made as directed in the recipe 
for Oyster Fritters^ substituting water for the oyster 
liquor in mixing the batter, and then frying them 
like the fritters. 

Stewed Cauliflower. — Boil a cauliflower in branch- 
es as directed in the previous recipe and drain it; 
mix together over the fire a tablespoonful each of 



VEGETABLES. 6 1 

butter and flour, add a pint of water, two table- 
spoonfuls of vinegar, a saltspoonful of salt, quarter 
of a saltspoonful of pepper, and stir until it boils; 
heat the cauliflower in this sauce ; then stir into it the 
beaten yolks of two raw eggs, and serve it at 
once. 

Spinach on Toast. — Make three slices of toast 
and lay it on a hot dish ; put two quarts of spinach 
leaves, washed and stripped from the stems, into a 
frying-pan containing sufficient hot lard to cover 
the bottom of the pan, fry it quickly, turning it over 
as soon as that next the pan is tender, season it 
with salt and pepper, and serve it on the toast. 

Spinach with Gravy. — Prepare the spinach as di- 
rected in the preceding recipe, substituting a table- 
spoonful of butter and a cupful of gravy for the 
lard ; serve it hot. 

Stewed Corn. — Into a pint of nicely prepared 
brown sauce put in a pint of sweet corn cut from the 
ear, and cook it slowly for half an hour. Serve it hot. 

Brown Sauce. — Make a brown sauce as follows : 
Put over the fire in a saucepan one tablespoonful 
each of butter and flour, and stir them constantly 
until they are light brown, then stir in very gradu- 
ally a pint of boiling water, a teaspoonful of salt, 
and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, let it boil 
two minutes, and use it hot. 

Boiled Sweet Corn. — Remove the husk, except 
the inner layer, from short, plump ears of sweet 
corn ; turn this layer far enough to permit the re- 
moval of the corn silk, then replace it, and tie a 
short string around it to hold it in place ; boil the 
corn in boiling water without salt until the milk is 



62 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

opaque white — from ten to twenty minutes ; then 
remove the string, and husk, cover the corn with a 
napkin, and serve it with a dish of melted butter, 
pepper, and salt. 

Stewed Corn and Tomatoes. — Stew together for 
half an hour one pint of corn cut from the ear, one 
pint of tomatoes peeled and sliced, one tablespoon- 
ful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar, one salt- 
spoonful of salt, and quarter of a saltspoonful of 
pepper; serve hot on toast. 

Fried Corn and Tomatoes. — Fry in separate fry- 
ing-pans one pint each of cold boiled corn, cut 
from the ear, and of tomatoes peeled and sliced, 
with two tablespoonfuls of butter in each, and a 
palatable seasoning of salt and pepper ; when the 
tomatoes are done put them in the middle of a hot 
platter with the fried corn around them, and serve 
them hot. 

Boiled Squash. — Peel a winter squash, cut it in 
two-inch squares, boil it just tender in salted boil- 
ing water, drain it and serve it at once with hot 
meat gravy poured over it. If no gravy is on hand 
use instead a brown sauce made as directed in the 
recipe for Stewed Corn. Boiled squash is also rub- 
bed through a fine sieve with a potato masher and 
heated with butter, pepper, and salt; this is the 
usual method of cooking summer squash. 

Squash Fritters. — Use cold boiled squash rubbed 
through a sieve ; to each pint add one egg well 
beaten, two tablespoonfuls of flour, and a palatable 
seasoning of pepper and salt ; fry by the tablespoon- 
ful in a frying-pan half full of smoking hot lard ; 
dust with salt and pepper, and serve hot as a vege- 



VEGETABLES. 63 

table. Cold boiled pumpkin can be used in the 
same way. 

Fried Pumpkin. — Cut tender pumpkin in two- 
inch pieces, peel them, lay them for an hour in an 
earthen dish sprinkled with salt; dust them with 
pepper, roll them in flour, and fry them in plenty of 
smoking hot fat. Use hot as a vegetable ; squash 
may be similarly cooked. 

Fried Egg-Plant.— Slice the egg-plant, peel it, 
and dress it as directed in the foregoing recipe. 

Stewed Egg-Plant. — Peel an egg-plant, cut it in 
inch squares, sprinkle it with salt, and let it stand 
an hour ; then stew it gently until tender, but not 
broken, with butter, pepper, and salt, and serve it 
hot on toast. 

Baked Egg-Plant. — Peel an egg-plant or deeply 
score the skin, rub it all over with salt and pepper, 
and scoop out the inside to within half an inch of 
the surface ; mince the part removed, mix it with 
half its quantity of bread-crumbs or chopped meat 
of any kind, season it highly with salt and pepper, 
return it to the shell, which tie together, and bake it 
until tender ; remove the string, and serve the egg- 
plant hot. 

Stewed Dried Beans. — Pick over a pint of beans, 
wash them, boil them tender, putting them oyer the 
fire in cold water, and adding half a cup of cold 
water every fifteen minutes until they are done; 
then drain off nearly all the water, add two table- 
spoonfuls of butter, two saltspoonfuls of salt, quarter 
of a saltspoonful of pepper, and a tablespoonful of 
vinegar or any good table sauce. 

Beans and Bacon.— Boil as directed in the pre- 



64 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK, 

vious recipe and drain quite dry; meantime fry 
quarter of a pound of sliced bacon, lay it on a hot 
dish, put the beans into the frying-pan where the 
bacon was cooked, fry them for five minutes over a 
hot fire, season them palatably with salt and pepper, 
and serve them with the fried bacon. 

For other recipes for cooking dried beans and 
peas the reader is referred to the author's pamphlet 
called " Twenty-five Cent Dinners," pages 38, 39, 
and 40. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

RICE. 

Boiled Rice, Georgia Style.— There are several 
methods of boiling rice, from which two are selected 
as giving good though different results : the Georgia 
way, which gives the grains dry and separate after 
boiling, was learned from a colored cook of that 
State; the Chinese method was imparted to the 
author during a most interesting demonstration of 
native cookery by several of the young Chinese 
gentlemen who were recently students at Yale. 

To boil rice in the Georgia style pick it over, 
wash it in cold v/ater, put it into three times its 
quantity of salted boiling water, and boil it steadily 
for twelve minutes, without stirring it ; then drain 
off all the water, cover the vessel containing it, and 
set it where it will keep hot enough to steam for ten 
minutes ; it will then be ready to serve. Shake it 
out of the boiler in a heap on the dish, but do not 
use a spoon to remove it, and do not press it in 
shape ; serve it as it is thrown lightly on the dish. 

Boiled Rice, Chinese Style,— Pick the rice over, 
wash it well in cold water, put it over the fire in suffi- 
cient cold water to rise an inch and a half above the 
top of the rice, and set the saucepan where its con- 
tents will slowly reach the boiling point ; a little 
salt may be dusted over the rice if desired ; be sure 
that the rice boils very slowly ; the water will be 



66 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

partly absorbed by the rice and partly evaporated, 
as the vessel in which it is cooked is not covered ; 
when it is tender it is served in bowls as an accom- 
paniment to other dishes, being eaten as we eat 
bread ; while the grains are distinct they are slightly 
adhesive, and can easily be eaten with the chop- 
sticks which replace our forks. 

Rice and Lamb, Arabian Style. — The inhabitants 
of the Mediteranean countries excel in the prepara- 
tion of rice, and therefore a number of their dishes 
will be given here, as they are not expensive and 
not difficult to prepare, while they afford a welcome 
variety at table. 

Boil about three pounds of lamb, exclusive of the 
weight of the bones, in boiling water with a little 
salt, until it is tender ; take it from the broth, put in 
its place a quart of rice, or a pint each of rice and 
soaked chick peas (large yellow dried peas), and 
half a cup of raisins, and boil all together until the 
rice and peas are tender. Meantime cut the flesh 
of the lamb in pieces an inch square and fry them 
light brown in hot butter ; when the rice is done 
drain off nearly all the broth ; mix the meat with it, 
highly season the dish, which is called alcuzens, and 
serve it hot. 

Turkish Pilaff of Rice and Meat. — This dish is 
made of rice and lamb or fowl (sometimes both be- 
ing used), raisins and a little saffron, or curry and 
fried onion, or with rice and tomatoes, first fritd 
and then stewed tender in broth. A good pilaff can 
be made as follows, using cold beef, lamb, mutton, 
or fowl: pick over a pint of rice, wash it in cold 
water, drain it in a sieve and set it near the fire to 



RICE. 67 

dry; meantime cut a pound of cold meat in pieces 
an inch square, fry it brown in four tablespoonfuls 
of hot butter, and take it from the butter with a 
skimmer ; put the rice into the same butter and fry 
it light brown ; add a pint of boiling water, a pint of 
tomatoes peeled and sliced, the fried meat, and a 
palatable seasoning of salt and pepper; let the pilaff 
stew gently until the rice is tender ; if it seems dry 
enough to burn after it has been cooking a while 
add very little boiling water, remembering that the 
pilaff when done should be just moist but not too 
full of gravy; serve it hot. 

Rice and Sausage, Italian Style. — Prick all over 
a pound of fresh sausages, and fry them brown ; 
take them up, and in their drippings fry a pint of 
rice, washed and dried, and one onion peeled and 
sliced ; when the rice is brown add the fried sausage, 
and boiling water enough to keep the rice from 
burning ; season it highly with salt and pepper, and 
cook it slowly until it is tender; serve it hot. 

Rice Stew. — Peel, slice, and' fry six onions with 
four tablespoonfuls of drippings ; put with them a 
pint of rice washed and dried, two herrings freed 
from skin and bone, and boiling water enough to 
cover all ; season the stew highly with salt and pep- 
per, replenish the water as it boils away, but do not 
add too much, as the stew should be only moist 
when done ; serve as soon as the rice is tender. 

Other recipes for cooking rice are to be found in 
the author's different works, as well as a good variety 
of methods for cooking macaroni, a food now be- 
coming well known in Araerica, 



CHAPTER IX. 

BREAD. 

Home-made Bread. — Two methods are given, with 
personal preference for the second, because it is the 
quickest, and best preserves the nutriment of the 
flour. 

To make yeast, boil two ounces of hops in two 
quarts of water for half an hour; strain the liquid, 
and cool it until it is only lukewarm, then add half 
a pound of brown sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, 
and one pound of flour ; let this leaven ferment 
four days in a warm place, stirring it whenever it 
foams over the top of the jar in which it is placed ; 
on the third day add to it three pounds of potatoes 
boiled and mashed ; on the fourth day strain and 
bottle it, and keep it in a cool place. 

To make bread, put seven pounds of flour in a 
deep wooden bowl ; in the centre of it put a table- 
spoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of sugar, a gill of 
yeast, and sufficient lukewarm water to make a soft 
dough (about three pints); mix these ingredients 
with the hands until they form a smooth, shining 
dough ; if necessary use a little extra flour, only 
enough to facilitate the working of the dough ; flour 
the bowl on the bottom and sides, so that the bread 
will not stick to it, cover it with a thick towel folded 
several times, set it in a warm place protected from 
draughts, and let it rise ov^r night. In the morn- 



BREAD. 69" 

ing knead the dough fifteen minutes, divide it into 
four loaves, put them in floured baking-pans, cover 
them with a folded towel, and set them in a warm 
place to rise twice their height ; when they are so 
risen prick them at the sides with a fork and bake 
them in a moderate oven until a knitting or truss- 
ing needle can be run into them without being 
made sticky. Be sure that they are well done, but 
do not let them burn. 

To test the heat of the oven follow the method 
of Jules Gouffe, the celebrated chef of the Paris 
Jockey Club ; the " moderate oven" temperature is 
that degree of heat which will turn ordinary writing 
paper dark yellow or buff, that is, the color of 
kindling-wood ; put a sheet of paper into the oven 
and close the door, if the paper blazes the oven is 
too hot; arrange the dampers to lower the heat for 
ten minutes, then again test it with more paper ; 
it may be necessary to try the temperature several 
times, but the time thus used is well spent. 

Compressed Yeast Bread. — When it^is possible to 
obtain fresh compressed yeast, also called German 
yeast, an excellent bread can be made in about two 
hours and a half; the rapidity of the leavening or 
"raising" the dough is advantageous because less 
of the nutritive elements of the flour are lost than 
by following the long process; for two loaves of 
bread use three pounds of flour, about a quart of 
water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and an ounce of 
fresh compressed yeast ; dissolve the yeast in a pint of 
lukewarm water ; stir into it sufficient flour to make 
a thick batter ; cover the bowl containing the batter, 
or sponge, with a folded towel, and set it in a warm 



70 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

place to rise ; if properly covered and heated it 
will rise to a light foam in about half an hour ; then 
stir into it the salt dissolved in a little warm water, 
add the rest of the flour, and sufficient lukewarm 
water to make a dough just stiff enough to knead ; 
knead it five minutes, divide it into two loaves, put 
them in floured baking-pans, cover them with a folded 
towel, and set them in a warm place to rise twice 
their height ; then bake them as directed in the 
preceding recipe. 

In raising the sponge be sure that the heat is not 
sufficient to " scald" or harden it, as that will pre- 
vent fermentation ; therefore do not place it where 
the hand cannot be held with comfort ; keep it cov- 
ered from draughts. If when it is light it has be- 
come at all soured, as it sometimes will in summer, 
stir into it, before adding the balance of the flour, 
a saltspoonful of baking soda dissolved in a very 
little water. 

The dough made for home-made bread can be 
baked as raised biscuit by kneading in with it a 
little sugar and melted butter, or it can be boiled in 
soups and stews as raised dumplings. 

Baking Powder Biscuit.— Use any good baking- 
powder ; for a dozen biscuits sift two teaspoonfuls 
of the powder and one of salt, with a quart of flour ; 
rub into the flour two tablespoonfuls of lard or 
butter; flour a baking-pan and pastry-board and 
roller ; quickly stir into the flour sufficient cold 
water or milk to make a dough just soft enough to 
roll out; turn it upon the pastry-board, roll it an 
inch thick, cut it in rounds v/ith a floured biscuit- 
cutter, put them into the baking-pan, brush them 



BREAD. 71 

over with cold milk, and bake them at once in a 
quick oven. Remember that to be successful in us- 
ing baking-powder it is absolutely necessary to work 
rapidly; the moment the powder is wet it begins to 
generate carbonic acid gas, and this forcing its way 
up through the dough lightens it ; if the gas escapes 
before the dough is baked the biscuits will not be 
light. 

Maryland Biscuit. — Rub two tablespoonfuls of 
lard into one quart of sifted flour; add a level 
teaspoonful of salt and sufficient milk to make a 
rather stiff dough, working the milk into the flour 
with the hand ; put the dough upon a floured pastry- 
board,* and beat it with the rolling-pin, folding it as 
it is flattened, until it blisters and cracks ; then tear 
ofl" pieces the size of an egg, roll them round in the 
hands, prick them with a fork on the top, and bake 
them in a moderate oven. 

The beating will usually occupy half an hour. 
In the South a machine is used, consisting of a cor- 
rugated wooden roller, set half an inch from the 
bottom of an open wooden box, and turned with a 
crank set outside the box ; the dough is repeatedly 
passed under this roller until it is ready to bake. 

Graham Gems.— Real Graham Gems are made by 
mixing graham flour and water to a thick batter, 
with a little salt, and then beating the batter until 
it is full of little bubbles of air; it is then put into 
hot buttered gem-pans, and quickly baked in a hot 
oven. Graham biscuit may be made with baking- 
powder if desired ; proceed as for baking-powder 
biscuit, using graham flour instead of wheat. 

Brown Bread, — Mix together three cupfuls of 



72 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

rye meal, two of yellow Indian meal, one of molasses, 
and one quart of sour milk with one teaspoonful of 
salt and -two of baking soda dissolved in it ; put 
the bread into a buttered tin mould, Avith a close 
cover, steam it for two and a half hours, and then 
bake it uncovered for half an hour. 

Raised Brown Bread. — Put one quart of yellow In- 
dian meal into an earthen bowl, pour over it sufficient 
boiling water to entirely moisten it, and let it cool 
to blood heat ; when it is cool mix with it one 
quart of rye meal, one cupful of molasses, one cup- 
ful of home-made yeast or half a cupful of baker's 
yeast, one teaspoonful of salt dissolved in a little 
water, and sufficient lukewarm water to mak^ a soft 
paste ; after thoroughly mixing these ingredients put 
the dough into a buttered earthen or thick iron pan, 
smooth it on top with a wooden spoon wet in cold 
water, cover it with a folded towel, and set it in a 
moderately warm place to rise ; when the surface 
begins to crack open put it into a moderate oven, 
with another pan turned over it, for four hours ; 
or steam it five hours, and then dry the crust in the 
oven. 



CHAPTER X. 

SIMPLE D ESSERTS. 

Deep Apple Pie. — To make plain pastry mix to- 
gether lightly quarter of a pound of lard or butter, 
a teaspoonful of salt, a pound of flour, and sufficient 
cold water to make a paste stiff enough to roll out. 
One way of mixing is to put these ingredients into 
a chopping tray, and chop them together with a large 
knife ; another is to make a paste stiff enough to 
roll of the flour, salt, and water, roll it half an inch 
thick, spread quarter of the shortening over it, fold 
it and roll it out again, and use another quarter of 
the shortening, repeating this process until all is 
nsed ; the pastry is then ready for the making of 
pies. 

For a deep apple pie, pare and slice tart apples 
enough to fill a deep earthen baking dish heaping 
full ; line the edges of the dish an inch down with a 
strip of pastry ; put in the apples, sweeten them to 
taste, and flavor the pie with a little grated lemon 
rind, or a little ground cinnamon ; cover the top 
with pastry wet at the edges with cold water to 
make it adhere to the strips on the sides of the dish ; 
cut small holes in the top crust, brush it over with 
beaten egg, or with a little sugar dissolved in water, 
and bake it until the apples are done in a moderate 
oven. For a test for the proper heat of the oven re- 
fer to the recipe for Home-made Bread. 



74 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

Pan-dowdy. — Wash a quart of dried apples, soak 
them over night in cold water, stew them soft in the 
same water with sugar and spice to make them palat- 
able ; put the apple sauce thus made into an earthen 
baking dish with a tablespoonful of butter, and 
cover it with pastry made as directed in the recipe 
for Deep Apple Fie ; bake the dowdy until the crust 
is done; then remove it from the oven, and break 
the crust down into the apple with a spoon ; use it 
hot or cold. 

Apple sauce made from green or ripe apples can 
be used in the same way. 

Fried Apples. — Pare sound apples, slice them half 
an inch thick, remove the cores without breaking 
the slices, fry them in hot butter until tender, lay 
them in little piles with sugar and spice dusted over 
them, and serve them on slices of toast. 

Apple Toast. — Pare and core tart apples without 
breaking them ; put them on slices of stale bread, 
fill them with sugar, put a little butter and spice on 
each one, and bake them tender in a moderate oven. 

Apple and Bread Pudding. — Soak a quart of stale 
bread in cold water five minutes ; pour off as much 
water as will escape without squeezing, and put 
the bread in a buttered baking dish ; pare and slice 
a quart of apples, lay them on the bread, add sugar 
and spice to taste, and bake the pudding in a 
moderate oven. 

Racket Club Pudding. — Butter slices of stale 
bread, enough to cover the bottom of a two-quart 
baking dish ; put a layer of raisins on the bread ; 
add another layer of bread, pour over it a custard 
made of four eggs beaten with four tablespoonfuls 



SIMPLE DESSERTS, 75 

of sugar and a pint of milk ; pare, quarter, and core 
a quart of apples, lay them on the pudding, dust 
them with powdered sugar, and bake the pudding 
half an hour in a moderate oven. Serve it hot with 
powdered sugar, or jelly sauce. 

Jelly Pudding Sauce. — Mix together one tea- 
spoonful of corn starch or arrow root, one table- 
spoonful of jelly, four of sugar, and a pint of cold 
water ; put the sauce over the fire and stir it until 
it boils one minute; then use it. 

Cheese Crusts. — Cut some slices of stale bread 
two inches square and half an inch thick, butter 
them, lay them on a baking-pan, put one tablespoon- 
ful of grated cheese on each, and brown them in a 
quick oven ; serve them hot or cold. 

Pumpkin Pie. — Peel and slice a pumpkin, or part 
of one, boil it in boiling water until it is tender 
enough to rub through a sieve with a potato-mash- 
er; mix with each quart a custard made of six eggs 
beaten with eight tablespoonfuls of sugar and a 
quart of milk ; flavor the mixture with spice and 
grated lemon rind, and bake it in deep earthen pie 
plates lined with plain pastry. Squash pie is made 
in the same way. 

Plain Mince Pie. — Chop fine half a pound of cold 
boiled beef or cold boiled tongue ; remove the fibre 
from half a pound of suet and chop that fine; stone 
half a pound of raisins, cutting them in halves ; pick 
over and wash half a pound of currants ; slice thin 
two ounces of citron ; pare, core, and chop a pound 
of apples ; grate the rind and squeeze the juice of an 
orange and a lemon, if they are available ; mix all 
these ingredients in a glass or earthen jar with 



76 THE PEOPLES COOK-BOOK. 

enough sweet cider to moisten them, sufficient 
sugar to sweeten them palatably, salt enough to be 
just perceptible, and plenty of mixed ground 
spices ; last of all add quarter of a pint of good 
brandy for the purpose of preserving the mince- 
meat. Pack it down tight in the jar, and keep it 
closely covered two or three weeks before using it. 
When brandy is not used the mince-meat should 
not be kept long. In making pastry for mince pies 
use from half to three quarters of a pound of short- 
ening to a pound of flour. If mince-meat has be- 
come dry by long keeping moisten it with cider be- 
fore using it. 



CHAPTER XL 

COOKERY FOR INVALIDS 

The preparation of food for invalids and conva- 
lescents is one of the most difficult tasks which is 
ever imposed upon the ordinary cook. The physi- 
cian generally outlines the diet, but leaves the de- 
tails of cooking to the nurse or cook, who may not 
always know how to make the simple and nutritious 
dishes required. To meet such an emergency a few- 
recipes are given here which were included in the 
author's lessons before the New York State Train- 
ing School for Nurses last May. The balance of 
the lessons, together with those given at the Nurses' 
Training School of the New York Charity Hospital 
last winter, will be included in a volume on Diet 
for Invalids which will shortly be published by the 
author. 

Milk Porridge.— Mix two tablespoonfuls of flour 
smoothly with half a cupful of cold milk ; place a 
cupful and a half of milk over the fire in a sauce- 
pan rinsed with cold water, but not wiped ; stir in 
the flour and milk, a saltspoonful of salt, and, if de- 
sired, sugar and nutmeg to suit the palate of the 
patient; stir the porridge constantly until it reaches 
the boiling point, then let it boil for one minute, 
taking care that it does not burn, and serve it. A 
tablespoonful of raisins boiled and served with it 



78 THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

enhances its nutriment, if the physician will permit 
their use. 

Arrowroot Gruel. — Make this in the same way as 
the Milk Porridge, substituting water for the milk ; 
do not use the raisins. 

Indian Meal GrueL — Mix one tablespoonful of 
Indian meal with half a cupful of cold water ; stir 
it into a cupful and a half of boiling water, with a 
saltspoonful of salt, and boil it half an hour, stir- 
ring it occasionally to prevent burning. 

Beef Tea. — Chop one pound of lean beef, from 
the round, very fine ; soak it for at least an hour in 
one pint of cold water ; if there is time, let it soak 
two hours ; put it over the fire in the same water, 
and let it slowly reach the boiling point; strain it 
through a sieve which will retain only the bits of 
meat and allow the coagulated albumen to pass 
through ; a little seasoning may be added if the 
physician permits. If the cooking of the beef tea 
is checked at 140° Fahr., its albumen will be per- 
fectly soluble, and therefore more digestible for 
very weak invalids. 

Beef Juice. — Slice juicy lean beef, from the round, 
an inch thick ; broil it quickly over a very hot fire, 
but without burning, until it is brown on both sides ; 
lay it in a hot soup plate, cut it through in all parts 
with a very sharp knife, and set another hot plate 
on it, with the bottom against the meat ; then grasp 
both plates firmly and press them together, squeez- 
ing the juice from the meat ; let it run into another 
dish, or upon a slice of delicate toast, and serve it 
at once; the physician will indicate the seasoning. 

Toast. — To prepare toast suitable for invalids 



COOKERY FOR INVALIDS. 79 

cut stale bread in slices half an inch thick, and 
trim off the crust ; then hold it far enough away 
from the fire to dry it before browning it ; it should 
be of a delicate brown color and quite dry in the 
middle of the slice ; in this condition it is more 
easily digested than when made so quickly that the 
moisture of the bread remains in it. 

Broiled Birds. — Carefully pluck and singe the 
birds, cut off the head and feet, or if the head re- 
mains be sure that no feathers are left on it ; remove 
the crop and windpipe, and wipe the birds on a wet 
towel ; split them down the back, take out the en- 
trails without breaking them ; lay the birds, with- 
out washing, between the bars of a buttered wire 
gridiron, and brown the inside first over a quick 
fire ; then turn the outside towards the fire and 
brown that, but be careful to avoid burning ; the 
birds may be cooked rare or well done, as the phy- 
sician permits, and slightly seasoned. Toast is 
usually served under them. 

Sago and Wine. — Wash an ounce of sago in cold 
water ; put it over the fire in a pint of cold water, 
let it slowly approach the boiling point, and boil it 
gently until tender; then stir into it two table- 
spoonfuls of sugar and a glass of Madeira or sherry 
wine, and serve it hot or cold. 

Wine Jelly. — Dissolve one ounce of isinglass or 
gelatine in half a pint of hot water ; add one ounce 
of sugar and one pint of wine, and cool the jelly in 
a mould. 

Barley Water. — Wash two ounces of pearl barley 
in plenty of cold water until the water is clear; put 
it over the fire with half a pint of cold water, let 



8o THE PEOPLE'S COOK-BOOK. 

it slowly approach the boiling point, and boil five 
minutes ; then strain it, put it again over the fire in 
two quarts of cold water, and boil it until the 
water is reduced one half; then strain and cool it; 
it may be sweetened and flavored, if desirable, ac- 
cording to the physician's direction. 

Egg and Wine. — Beat one egg to a froth with 
two teaspoonfuls of sugar ; then beat in one glass 
of wine, and use at once. 

Milk Punch. — For hot punch mix together quar- 
ter of a glass of brandy, rum, or whiskey, with three 
quarters of a glass of hot milk ; add sugar and 
nutmeg to make the punch palatable. For cold 
punch use the same proportion of liquor, but fill 
the glass with shaved or finely cracked ice, with 
spice and sugar to taste. 



THE END 



INDEX 



SOUPS. 
Bean, ii. 
Brown, 12. 
Brown onion, 14. 
Clam, cream, 10. 
Clam, rich, 10. 
Cock-a-leeky, 13. 
Cod, cream, 9. 
Herb, 14. 
Oyster, 10. 
Potato, 13. 
Poultry. II. 
Pumpkin, 14. 

FISH. 

Clams, see Shellfish. 

Cod, fricassee of fresh, 16. 
' ' salt, with Dutch Sauce, 19. 
" *' Lyonnaise style, 18, 
" " Spanish " 19. 

Eels ragoitt of, with onions, 
16. 

Fish-roe, with potatoes, 18. 

Haddock, fresh, fried, with 
pickle sauce, 17. 

Haddock, smoked, devilled, 20. 

Halibut, fresh, broiled, with 
caper butter, 17. 

Halibut, smoked, with toma- 
toes, 20. 

Herrings, stewed, with toma- 
toes, 20. 



Lobsters, see Shellfish. 
Mackerel, salt, broiled, 20. 
Mussels, see Shellfish. 
Oysters, see Shellfish. 
Scallops, see Shellfish. 

SHELLFISH. 

Clams, in chowder, 24. 
*' " fritters, 24. 
" " soup, cream, 10. 
" " " rich, 10. 
" stewed, 24. 
Lobsters, boiled, 26. 

" broiled, 27. 

" scalloped, 26. 

" stewed, 26. 
Mussels, pickled, 25. 

" stewed, 25. 
Oysters, broiled, 23. 

" fried, 22. 

" in fritters, 22. 

" panned, 21. 

" roast, 21. 

*' toast, 22, 
Scallops and eggs, 23. 

" " onions, 23. 

" fried, 23, 

RELISHES AND SAUCES. 

Butter, caper, 17. 

clarified, 30. 
Egg salad, hot, 30. 



82 



INDEX, 



Garlic, 47. 

Mackerel and onions, 29. 

Meats, potted, 29. 

Potted fish, game, and poultry, 

29. 
Poultry and game sandwiches, 

28. 
Salmagundi, 29. 
Salmon sandwiches, 28. 
Sauce, brown, 6t. 
Dutch, 19. 

'^ horseradish, 46. 

" jelly, 75. 

** white, 50, 

Welsh rarebits, 28. 

EGGS. 

Eggs baked with cheese, 31. 
" Ardennes style, 31, 
" with burnt butter, 31. 
" fried, with pickles, 32. 
'• in hot salad, 30. 
" in omelette, with crusts, 32. 
" in omelette with on- 
ions, 32. 

POULTRY AND BIRDS. 

Birds, broiled, 79. 

" small, in ragoiit, 41. 
Chicken, with green peas, 41. 
" " sweet corn, 41. 

" fried, with hominy, 40. 
" ~ roast, 39. 
Duck, braised, with green 

peas, 37. 
Duck, devilled, 36. 

roast, with onion stuff- 
ing, 36. 
Duck, stewed with cabbage, 
37- 



Fowl, braised with vegetables, 

39. 

Fowl, stewed whole, 40. 

Goose and onions, 38. 
" giblet stew, 38. 
" roast, with apple stuff- 
ing, 37- 

Roast poultry, 33. 

Turkey, devilled, 36. 

" roast, with oyster 
stuflling, 35. 

Turkey, stew, with chestnuts, 
35. 



Boiling meats, 44. 
, Broiling meats, 44. 
I Frying meats, 45. 
1 Roasting meats, 43. 
I Stewing meats, 44. 
Warming cold meats, 45. 
Beef, braised, 46. 
" cold, with vegetables, 47. 
" roast, with horseradish 
I sauce, 45. 

j Beef, corned, boiled, 50. 
I " stew, of tough, 46. 
I Ham, boiled, 51. 
! Liver, baked with bacon and 

potatoes, 53. 
I Liver, broiled with bacon, 52. 
I Mutton, breast of, fried, 47. 
" Irish stew, 48. 
" leg of, roasted, 47. 
" persillade, 48. 
Pork, fresh, chops, Spanish 

style, 51. 
Pork, fresh, Philadelphia scrap- 
ple, 52. 
Pork, fresh, roast, 51. 



INDEX. 



83 



Pork, salt, boiled with greens, 

51. 
Pork, sausage, baked with ap- 
ples, 53. 
Pork, sausage, stewed with 

rice, 67. 
Pork, tenderloins, broiled, 52. 

" " fried, 52. 

" " roasted, 52. 

Tongue, boiled, 50. 

'* pickled, ro^^z^/ of, 53. 
Veal, breast of, baked with 

tomatoes, 49. 
Veal, breast of, braised with 

potatoes, 49. 
Veal, stewed a la mode, 49. 
Veal, stewed with brown sauce, 

50. 

VEGETABLES. 

Beans, dried, and bacon, 63. 
" " stewed, 63. 

" string, boiled, 58. 
" " stewed, 58. 

Beets, fried, 59. 
!' stewed, 59. 

sugar, pudding of, 60. 
Cabbage and onions, 57. 

fried, with cream, 

57- 
Carrots, Flemish style, 56. 
fried, 57. 
stewed, 56. 
Cauliflower, fried, 60. 

•' stewed, 60. 

Corn, green, boiled, 61. 

" " fried with toma- 

toes, 62. 
Corn, green, stewed with 
brown sauce, 61. 



Corn, green, stewed with to- 
matoes, 62. 
Egg plant, baked; 63. 
fried, 63. 
" stewed, 63. 

Onions and eels, 16. 
" and scallops, 23. 
" fried, with bread, 58. 

glazed, 58. 
" stewed with gravy, 58. 
Peas, green, boiled, 58. 

" *' with bacon, 59. 

Potatoes, baked, 55. 
" boiled, 54. 

fried with bacon, 55. 
" fried with cream, 56. 

" fried with onions, 55. 

" in balls, 56. 

" larded, 55. 

" stuffed sweet, 55. 

** with fish-roe, 18. 

'* with veal, 50. 

Pumpkin, fried, 63. 

" fritters, 62. 

Spinach, on toast, 61. 

" with gravy, 61. 
Squash, boiled, 62. 
fritters, 62. 
" summer, 62. 
Tomatoes, with corn, fried, 62. 
with corn, stewed, 62. 
with halibut, 20. 
Vv^ith herring, 20. 
with veal, 49. 
Turnips, glazed, 57. 
stewed, 57. 

RICE AND HOMINY. 

Rice and lamb, Arabian style, 
66. 



84 



INDEX, 



Rice and sausage, Italian 

style, 67. 
Rice, boiled, Chinese style, 65. 
'* Georgia style, 65, 
" stew, 67. 
" Turkish pilaff of, 66. 
Hominy, boiled, 40, 
" fried, 40. 



Bread, brown, 71. 

raised, 72. 
" compressed yeast, 69. 
" home-made, 68. 
Breading, 48. 
Biscuit, baking powder, 70, 

" Maryland, 71. 
Graham gems, 71. 

PIES AND PUDDINGS. 

Apple and bread pudding, 74. 
" fried, 74. 



Apple pan-dowdy, 74. 

pie, deep, 73. 

toast, 74. 
Cheese crusts, 75. 
Jelly pudding sauce, 75. 
Mince pie, plain, 75. 
Pumpkin pie, 75. 
Racket Club pudding, 74. 

DISHES FOR INVALIDS. 

Arrowroot gruel, 78. 
Barley water, 79. 
Beef juice, 78. 

" tea, 78. 
Birds, broiled, 79. 
Egg and wine, 80. 
Indian meal gruel. 78. 
Milk porridge, 77. 

" punch, 80. 
Sago and wine, 79. 
Toast, 78. 
Wine jelly. 79. 



MISS CORSON'S 

Works on Domestic Economy. 



These books, which have received the fullest indorse- 
ment from the press and the public, will be sent by mail on 
receipt of price. Postage stamps may be sent instead of 
money. 

" The Cooking School Text-Book and House- ^^^^ 

keeper's Guide/' . . . . $1.25 

** The Cooking Manual for Everyday Use/' 50 

" Twenty-five Cent Dinners for Families 

of Six/' 25 

'' Meals for the Million/' . . 20 and 30 

Persons ordering books to be sent by mail are advised to 
send ten cents more than price for registration fee at post 
office. Postage stamps received in payment for books. Ad- 
dress 

MISS JULIET CORSON, 

Superintendent of the N. Y. School of Cookery. 
NEW YORK CITY. 



MISS CORSON'S 

NEW YORK SCHOOL OF COOKERY, 

Established 1876. 

The necessity for establishing similar schools of cookery 
is felt all over the country ; and, in response to continued 
demands for Miss Corson's personal aid in organizing these 
schools throughout the United States and Canada, her New 
York school is open only during the winter, and she has, since 
1878, devoted the spring and autumn to giving instruction 
elsewhere, the first lessons having been given in Montreal, Ca. 
Since then Miss Corson has given lessons at Washington, 
Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, Peoria, Cedar Rapids, Syra- 
cuse, Indianapolis, Hartford, Pittsfield, Brooklyn, North- 
ampton, Concord, Farmington, and Painesville. 

All communications relating' to the School or its 
publications should be addressed to 

MISS JULIET CORSON, 

Superintendent of the N. Y. School of Cooksry, 
NEW YORK CITY. 



